MOTACILLA MELANOPE. 



(THE GREY WAGTAIL.) 



Motacilla melanope, Pall. Beis. Euss. Eeichs, iii. p. 096(1776) ; Dresser, B. of Europe,pt.41,42. 

 Motacilla ioarula, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 997 (1788) ; Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 137 (1849) ; 



Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 121 (1852) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1853, xii. 



p. 268. 

 Motacilla sulphurea, Bechst. Gem. Naturg. Deutschl. iii. p. 459 (1807); Newton, ed. Yarrell's 



Brit. B. p. 552 (1873); Shelley, B. of Egypt, p. 127 (1872); Irby, B. of Gibraltar, 



p. 108 (1875). 

 Calobates* sulphurea (Bechst.), Kaup, Natiirl. Syst. p. 33 (1829); Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. 



Mus. E. I. Co. i. p. 349 (1854); Jerdon, B. of Ind. ii. p. 220 (1803) ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 



1872, p. 458; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 22 ; Butler & Hume, Str. Feath. 1875, p. 489. 

 Calobates boarula (Gm.), Hume, Str. Feath. 1873, p. 201 ; id. Nests and Eggs, ii. p. 381 (1874) ; 



id. Str. Feath. 1874, p. 237. 

 Calobates melanope (Pall.), Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 304 ; Brooks, Str. Feath. 1875, p. 250 ; 



Hume, B. of Tenass., Str. Feath. 1878, p. 302 ; Ball, Str. Feath. 1878, vii. p. 219. 

 Bergeronnette jaune, French ; Alveloa amarella, Portuguese ; Jungle-Wagtail (Jerdon), The 



Grey-and-Yelluw Wagtail. Mudi tippudu jitta, Telugu (Jerdon) ; Alveola, in Azores 



(Godman) ; Kisekiri, Japan (Blakiston) ; Piepita, Spanish (Saunders). 



Adult mali andfemali (Ceylon). Length 7-3 to 7"5 inches ; wing 3'1 to 3"2 ; tail 3 - 55 to 3 - 9 ; tarsus OS ; middle toe 



and claw 0'65 ; hind toe 0*3, its claw (straight) 0-25 : bill to gape - 6 to 0-65. 

 Iris olive-brown ; bill blackish horn, pale at the base beneath ; legs and feet brown or reddish brown. 



Winter plumage (Ceylon). Above ashy grey, slightly tinged with brown on the back, and the head somewhat pervaded 

 with olive-greenish ; least wing-coverts grey like the back ; secondary and primary coverts, primaries, and secon- 

 daries blackish brown, the greater coverts with paler edges than the rest of the feathers ; the tertials with the 

 distal pari of the outer web edged whitish ; bases of the secondaries and tertials and the basal part of the inner 

 web of all but the 1st four primaries white, running out towards the tip of the longest tertial feather; rump 

 greenish yellow, blending with the grey of the lower back, and brightening into yellow on the upper tail-coverts ; 

 the 6 centre tail-feathers brownish black, with the margins near t lie base greenish yellow, the outer pair wholly 

 white, tin' next two white, with all but the tip of the outer webs black, and the innermost pair with a black inner 

 edge as well ; a yellowish superloral streak passing over the eye (where it widens and becomes white) to above 

 the ears; lores blackish; ear-coverts dark grey, with a yellowish patch just below the eye; throat and chest 

 yellowish, deepening into bright yellow on the centre of the breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts, the latter 

 being the brightest ; a few small brownish streaks on either side of the chin in some ; thighs dusky yellowish. 



The above is the plumage of the majority of adult birds while they are in Ceylon ; many have a trace of the black 

 summer throat in the dark markings just alluded to. The supercilium and cheek-patch vary in extent and in the 

 amount of yellow in their colouring, some being whiter than others. Some have the head more olivaceous than 

 others. 



f ' This Wagtail has been generically separated as Calobates by Kaup from the Black-and-White Wagtails (Motacilla 

 restricted) on account of its different plumage. Its wings are said to be somewhat shorter, and its tertials less elongated ; 



distinctions will not hold good if it be compared with a series of species of Motacilla. The hind toe is perhaps a 

 little shorter; but, on the whole, I prefer to follow Messrs. Dresser, Newton, and others, and keep the present species in 

 Motacilla. 



