168 XOHTJI A.MEK1CAN JllKDa. 



wim.l, bo^innin. a, ,1,.. l.ns... ,.„„s „,u j^n.Umlly to .l.o v.lgo, al.o„t Lalfa,, i„cl, fi-om tip 

 k.alhcTs; s..c„nrl leatluM- will, rather less wl.it.,, an.l will, a narrow li,„, of brown alonl 



till' onlcr t:iil,. of tlio siialt to within half 

 an inch of tlic tip. JijH .„,<! l(!j,-s hlackish. 

 I'nncnsions (preparfd specimen). To- 

 tal length, (i.OO; wing, ;!.()(); tail, .■i.t)0; 

 exiiosed poition of (Irst ])riniary, 2.30. 

 Hill: length (ioni forehead, (l.r,8 ; f,-,,,,! 

 nostril, 0.;j.-,; along gape, 0.r,7. I^.gs : 

 tarsns, 0.!)1 ; middle (oe and elaw, (),7(t; 

 daw nlone,tt.l(J; hind too and claw, (l.ti."),' 

 claw alone, U..i(i. 



A second sjieeinien (Xo. 4o,910) diU'ers 

 ni having ashy color oC Ji^ad obsenred 

 Biiriuten flara with olivai.'eons-brown ; and the yellow 



I- .,„„., . , , ">' '"'cast showing brownish liases. The 



light niarkmgs .m th,. wnigs more distinct and whiter 



A,,other bird ,Xo. 4o,..l;i). taken on shipboard, abont ninety tniles west of St Mat- 

 thc«s Island, Iiehrn,gs Sea, Angns. 1,), 18ti.;. app,.ars to he of the san.e species in 

 a^unjnal, vss. Here the npper colors are n.ore brown ; ,he low..- parts -IwS ^i 

 t.t..a.l w„h l,row,nsh-(hlvous across the breast and tlank. Ka.ntscha kan ...ecinu. of 

 same stage ot plnmage are very sinnlir. ' 



I am unable to distinouisl, tliis .si^ecies iVoni tl.e Protean Bm(,,te, flava of 

 Europe ttnd Asia. Mtmy diderent races appear to he fonnd thrnnghottt this 

 wide circle of distribution, many of tl.em more or less l..cal, bt.t the propor- 

 tions and ovneral chttracter are the stune in all, tmd the general tendency 

 aj.pears to be to nnite all into one sj.ecies. The sexes and a-^es of all the 

 species real or si.].,,osed, vary very mud., t.nd, in the absence oi' a hir-^e 

 series, 1 ct.n throw no light upon the obs.-urities of the subject. I ci'te 

 above the latest general work on the birds of Europe, in wjiicli will be 

 louiicl the i)rincipal synonymes. 



The specimens from Alaska submitted for examination to Mr II B Tris- 

 tram were identified by him as the B.Jlava. 



H.vniTs. The Gray-hetuletl Wagtail of Europe finds a phice in the fauna 

 of ISorth xim.M'ica as a bird of Alaska, where s,,ecimeiis have been obtained 

 and where it ;s. at least, an occasioiml visittmt. It is not a common bird of' 

 the Brithsh Islands, where it is rejdaced by a closely allied spe.nes Only 

 .seven or eight instances of its .)ccurrence were known to Mr. Yarrell 



On the continent of Euroi,e it is.,uite an abundant .s].ecies, inh,il)itin- wet 

 sp-ingy i.laces m moist meadows, an.l frcptenting the vicinity of wtiter and 

 the gravelly edges of rivei-s. It is numerous in all the central portions of 

 l-^iirope. It has also t.n extensive northern and eastern geograiihical ran-e 

 a,)pearing in Xorway and Sweden as early as April and remaining tl.rre' 

 until Septemi)er. Linim-us met with it in Laphmd on the 2l><l of May It 

 occurs in Algeria,, Xubia, and Egypt. Mr. (lould has received it from the 

 Himalayas, and Temminck gives it as a bird of Jajian. 



According to iJegland, this bird is a very tibundant species in France 



