THE YELLOW WAGTAIL. 311 



familiar with it) take as the type of the genus. If it is to be 

 called a wagtail (for wagging the tail) the one of the charac- 

 ters, is not the distinguishing one, as it applies to many 

 birds and to dogs when they are pleased), it ought to be 

 the GREEN wagtail, as the green upon it bears some resem- 

 blance in locality to the grey on the other. The spring or 

 summer wagtail, is also a bad name for all Britain, as there 

 are places where all the three are spring or summer birds. 



The following is the summer plumage of the male : Top 

 of the head and ear-coverts pale yellowish olive green ; 

 shoulders, back, and rump, the same, but darker ; and the 

 green advancing in a point at each side of the lower part of 

 the throat, as if fragments of a collar. The whole under 

 part pale gamboge yellow, still paler towards the vent. 

 Wings and tail dusky ; less white in the tail than the other 

 wagtails ; and very little in the wings, and the little that 

 there is dull and obscure. The female has the yellow below 

 so pale as to be almost white, and a blackish tinge in the 

 green on the back. As the birds are regular summer mi- 

 grants, they have no winter plumage as British birds ; and, 

 as might be inferred from the fact of their seasonal migration, 

 their plumage is not so much subject to change as that of the 

 others. 



The air of these birds, and their haunts and habits, differ 

 so much from those of the wagtails, that they have been with 

 propriety separated as a genus, though the generic name 

 " Budytes" (associator with cattle) is not a very happy one, 

 or the characters well made out. Our business, however, is 

 merely with the popular appearances and characters of birds. 



In that point of view, the yellow wagtail wants the active 

 expression of the others. The neck is longer, and the tail 

 an inch shorter, being less necessary for balancing the bird. 

 The hind toes are also longer, and the claws on these more 

 produced and straighter, approaching more to the character 



