1G4 Lieut. R. E. Vauglian and Staft'-Suig. K. H. Jones 



MoTACILLA LEUCOPSIS. 



The Wliite-faced Wagtail is mainly a winter visitor, but a 

 very few pairs remain, both on the coast and inland, to rear 

 their young. 



This bird is one of the earliest to arrive from the northern 

 breeding-grounds, and as early as the end of August or 

 the first week in September numbers are pouring south, 

 especially in the western parts of Kwang Tung and in 

 Kwang Si. The migratory rushes take place well on into 

 October, and hundreds of the Wagtails may be seen at 

 evening time on the Hong Kong cricket-ground, the 

 majority of which are immature. As with its near allies, 

 the young, after being hatched, move about with their 

 parents, and family-parties appear on migration. 



As early as March 18 a pair was found to be building 

 a nest in a hayrick ; and on April 15, at Samshui, a nest 

 containing five young birds was noticed in the thatch of 

 some brickworks near that place. In June, birds, evidently 

 breeding, were seen in Hong Kong. At Tam Chau and 

 Kwei Hsien, in Kwang Si, young birds were seen in July and 

 August. 



On the upper reaches of the West River, where there still 

 exist virgin forests, huge rafts of logs are made in the winter 

 7nonths, and these, covered with turf, bamboo-twigs and 

 vegetable rubbish, are floated down the river when the 

 summer floods permit. On each of these rafts there is in- 

 variably either one or a pair of these birds, and they live 

 entirely on this floating home and journey with it for many 

 hundreds of miles from west to east, indeed until the raft is 

 broken up at Canton. The birds while on the rafts catch 

 innumerable flies. 



This species has evidently a wide breeding-range, as it is 

 known to nest in Shantung, Fokien, Kwang Si, and Kwaitg 

 Tung. 



About the third week in April most birds proceeding north 

 leave Hong Kong, but some migrants linger until the second 

 week in Mav. 



