101 



THE YELLOW WAGTAIL. 



Motacilla rail (Bonap.). 



The Yellow Wagtail appears to have arrived on the south 

 coast mainly from Hampshire eastwards. The earliest records 

 were from Cambridge and Hampshire on the 2nd and 3rd o£ 

 April, and from Lancashire and Yorkshire on the 8th and 

 10th. An increase in Sussex on the 17th and in Kent on the 

 18th points to an influx of migrants on that portion of the 

 coast, as do also the increases in Hampshire and Sussex 

 on the 19th and 22nd respectively. Two birds were killed 

 at St. Catherine's light (Hants) on the night of the 

 28th/29th of April, and one on that of the lst/2nd of May ; 

 those were the only lighthouse records relating to this species. 

 By the end of April Yellow Wagtails were well distributed 

 and settling down, while they were reported as already 

 nesting in Suffolk and Cheshire on the 7th of May, in Essex 

 on the 10th and in Surrey on the 13th. Nests with eggs 

 were found in Cheshire on the 17th and in Derby on the 30th. 



Chronological Summary of the Records. 



April 2nd. Cambridge. 



„ 3rd. Hants. 



„ 8th. Lancashire. 



10th. Yorkshire. 



5, 13th. Sussex. 



„ 14th. Somerset, Leicester. 



15th. Wilts, Berks. 



„ 16th. Kent, Suffolk, Staffordshire. 



„ 17tb. Sussex (increase). Devon, Hants, Essex, 

 Derby, Lancashire, Notts. 



