308 ISSECTIVOILE. 



very small, greyish- white, with minute light brown speckles. 

 They axe not unlike the eggs of the cuckoo ; and that strange, 

 anomalous bird is said often to inflict upon the wagtails the 

 labour of feeding her ungainly and voracious offspring.* 



THE GREY WAGTAIL (Motacilla boarula). 



This is not so common as the last species, and it is more 

 migratory in its disposition, though there is reason to believe 

 that its migrations, like those of the other, are chiefly per- 

 formed within the island. 



The grey wagtail is about the same size as the pied, that 

 is, seven and a-half inches long, and about a foot in the 

 stretch of the wings, and six drachms in weight ; but it is 

 lighter and more elegant in shape, more fitted for getting 

 through the air, and the tarsi are not quite so strong, or the 

 toes quite so much produced. The colours, though distinct, 

 are soft and delicate. 



The male, in the summer or breeding plumage, has the 

 upper part a fine delicate grey, except the rump and tail- 

 coverts, which are bright sulphur-yellow. The white lines, 

 proceeding from the gape, one over the eye, and the other 

 on the side of the neck, joined by a white line across the 

 eye, impress the side of the head with a mark resembling 

 the letter \>. The throat, between the white lines, is black, 

 circular towards the breast ; and from that the whole under 

 part is yellow, very intense on the breast, and becoming paler 

 backwards. The wings are greyish-black, and the coverts 



* The Motacilla alba of the continental ornithologists is not a 

 British bird but the British species, until Mr. Gould pointed out the 

 distinction, was ever confounded with it. The British speck's stands 

 now as Motacilla Yarrelli, Gould. When in full summer dress, the top 

 of the head, the chest, and back, are of a deep 'black, while in the pied 

 wagtail of France, the true Motacilla alba, the throat and head alone 

 are black, the upper surface being of a light ash-grey. (See Gould's 

 Birds of Europe.) M, 



