208 MOTACILLA 



309. YELLOW WAGTAIL. 

 MOTACILLA RAIL 



Motacilla rail, Bp. Comp. List, p. 18 (1838) ; Gould, B. of Gt. Brit, iii. 

 pi. 3 ; Hewitson, i. p. 170, pi. xlii. fig. 3 ; Newton, i. p. 564 ; 

 Dresser, iii. p. 277, pi. 131 ; Saunders, p. 129 ; Lilford, iii. p. 114, 

 pi. 58 ; J/. campestris, (iiec. Pall.) Keys and Bias. Wirbelth, Eur. 

 p. xlix (1840) ; Naum. xiii. pt. 2, p. 130, Taf, 372 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. 

 Br. Mus. x. p. 510, pt. vi. figs. 1, 2. 



ad. (England). Upper parts olive-green becoming yellowish green 

 on the crown and forehead ; a broad yellow stripe over the eye, and 

 another below the eye ; sides of head otherwise olive-green ; wings and 

 tail as in J/. flava, chin, throat, and under parts rich yellow ; bill and 

 feet blackish ; iris brown. Culmeii 0'6, wing 3'25, tail 3'0, tarsus 1-0, hind- 

 toe with claw 0'68 inch. Occasionally an old male has the head entirely 

 yellow. The female is duller and paler than the male. The young bird 

 has the upper parts brownish olive, greener on the rump, under parts buffy 

 white tinged with sulphur, the lower throat and breast washed with 

 brownish buff, the superciliary stripe buffy white, and the margins to the 

 wings and tail are broader and tinged with buff. 



Hal. Great Britain, breeding in England and Scotland, but 

 rare in Ireland ; Northern France, and has been recorded as 

 having strayed to Norway, South Russia, Central and Southern 

 Europe on passage ; wintering in Africa. In Asia it ranges as 

 far east as Turkestan. 



In habits it does not appreciably differ from M. flava, and, 

 like that species, is most frequently seen in grass-land where 

 cattle are pasturing, and feeds on insects and their larvae. It 

 not unfrequently perches on a twig or branch of a tree as 

 well as on the ground. Its nest is placed on the ground 

 usually well concealed in the grass or under a clod or tussock, 

 and is constructed of grass-bents, rootlets, and occasionally 

 moss, lined with finer bents and rootlets, or else with hair or 

 wool. The eggs, from 4 to 6 in number, are usually deposited 

 in May or June, and a second brood is often raised in the 

 same season. The eggs are undistinguishable from those of 

 M. flava. 



310. EASTERN YELLOW WAGTAIL. 

 MOTACILLA TAIVANA. 



Motacilla taivana, (Swinhoe), P.Z.S, 1863, p. 334 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. 

 Mus. x. p. 514 ; Tacz. F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 385. 



g ad. (China). Upper parts including the crown greenish olivaceous ; 

 supercilium yellow ; lores black ; ear-coverts blackish olivaceous ; under 



