222 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



that several have been recorded ; and even now there appears to 

 be some uneertaintv about the changes of these and of others that 

 visit South-eastern Europe. 



593. Budytes viridis, Gmelin. 



Motacilla, apud Ghelin — B. beema, Syki s, Cat. 83 — B.neglecta, 

 and B. rlava, Jebdon, Cat. 135 and 136 bis — B. melanocephala, 

 Stkes. Car. 84. and Jerdon, Cat 136— Brown, 111. Zool. pi. 

 33 — Blyth. Cat. 775 and 776 — Horsf., Cat. 556 and 557 — B. 

 dubius, fulviventer, and sehisticeps, Hodgs. — B. melanocephala, 

 Licht.— EiiFP. F. Ab. pi. 33 f. 6—FVkya, H. 



The Indian Field-wagtail. 



Descr. — The usual plumage of adult birds, in winter, is olive- 

 green above, with a white, or occasionally yellow, superciliary 

 mark: beneath, the chin and throat whitish, the rest yellow, more 

 or less pure ; wings dusky, with two dull whitish yellow cross bands, 

 formed by the tips of the coverts, and the teitials broadly margined 

 with yellowish ; tail black, slightly margined with greenish, and the 

 two outermost feathers on each side chiefly white. At the spring 

 moult, the whole cap, lores and ear-coverts change to a bluish ash- 

 grey, with, or without, a white or yellow supercilium, which how- 

 ever is not always present, and disappears eventually by the change 

 of color which takes place in the feathers themselves at a later 

 period. The lower parts, too, become more pure andjbright vellow ; 

 the chin is white, and the throat yellow, with its lateral border white. 



A little later in the season, the lores and ear-coverts become 

 darker by a change in the leathers themselves ; and finally change 

 to deep black ; and, in full breeding plumage, the Avhole cap, 

 lores, and ear-coverts, are deep black. It is not certain if the 

 females ever assume the black cap, but it is probable that they do, 

 and the only difference between the sexes is stated to be the 

 slightly duller plumage of the female. 



Young birds of the year are light brownisrTgrev, purer on the 

 naie and rump; wings ai.d tail dusky, the former with two whitish 

 cross bands ; the tail darker than the wings, with the two outermost 

 feathers on each side nearly white : beneath white, sometimes with 



