24 



How to Sex Cage Birds. 



The Wagtails (MotacilUdcn). 



The females have rather smaller bills, with a slightly broader 

 base than the males ; but the differences are not very strongly 

 pronounced, and require careful comparison to reveal them. 



The Pied Wagtail (Motacilla lugubris). 

 The female is greyer on the upper surface than the male. 



The White Wagtail {Motacilla alba). 



The female is rather duller than the male, and generally has the 



throat nearly white; but some- 

 times with darkish brown 

 feathers, especially at the sides. 



The Grey Wagtail 



(Motacilla melanope). 



The female is rather smaller 

 than the male, and has a shorter 

 tail ; her plumage is duller, and 

 shows little or no black on the 

 throat. 



The Blue-headed Wagtail 

 (Motacilla Jlava). 



• The female is duller in plum- 



* age than the male, and the head 

 the common wiiE.v. j s more olive-tinted. 



The Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla raii). 



The female is browner on the upper parts and paler on the 

 under parts than the male ; the eyebrow streak is also whiter. 



The Pipits (Anthus). 



In this group of Motacillidce the adult bill of the female is a triile 

 heavier, especially towards the tip, than in the male ; in the latter 

 sex it is more finely tapered off. 



The Tree-Pipit (Anthus trivialis). 



The female is a trifle smaller than the male, and her breast-spots 

 are not so pronounced. 



The Meadow-Pipit (Anthus pratensis). 



The female, as in most if not all of the species in this genus, is 

 probably rather smaller than the male ; her under parts are less 

 boldly streaked. 



