230 
t. 
WHITE 
Ww. 
TA rae Gat Bees Te ie, 
Genus XLIL WAGTAIL 
N° 1, White W. N° 4. Black-crowned W. 
2. Dauurian W. 5. New Holland W. 
3- Hudfonian W. 
Motacilla alba, Iud. Ora. ii. p. 501. 1.—Ger. Orn. iv. pl. 335. 16 
White Wagtail, Genz. Syn. iv. p. 395. 1. 
F ROM various obfervations made by my friends and myfelf, it ap- 
pears clear that there is very little if any diftinction of fex in adult 
birds of this fpecies; neither fex gains the black about the head and 
throat the firft feafon after hatching; but as fpring comes on, both 
fexes gradually obtain it, and both again lofe it after incubation; not 
perhaps wholly, for in old birds fome traces are vifible at moft times, 
and under this mafk have been defcribed as different birds. This cir- 
cumftance likewife happens in refpect to the Grey Wagrail, which is 
only met with in the fouthern and weftern parts of England in the 
winter months. I faw one of them at the edge ofa rivulet in my 
garden, September 28 of the laft year, but they do not often appear be- 
fore Ofober. That-both fexes have a black throat, I am well in- 
formed, and more or lefs tracing of it may be obferved before their 
departure towards the north in fpring, where they breed. However 
authors may multiply this genus, we have certainly no more than 
three in England; viz. the White Wagtail, common almoft every 
where at all feafons; the Grey Wagtail, inhabiting all the fouthern 
counties the winter halfof the year, departing northward as fpring ap- 
proaches; and the Yellow Wageail, which is not obferved any where 
except in the fummer feafon. 
