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tinge, and marked with black on the lower throat and breast; underparts dull white; flanks tinged 
with yellowish buff. 
An older bird, shot on the 6th October, resembles the adult in winter dress, but has the crown and nape 
coloured like the back, and the crescentic mark on the breast is smaller. In this plumage it very 
closely resembles the young of M. alba, being only a shade darker on the upper parts. 
TuIs, our common British species, though so numerous with us, can scarcely be called common 
anywhere else. It is essentially a West-European bird, but has been found as far south as the 
western part of North Africa. 
With us in Great Britain it is very generally distributed, and is, as a rule, a resident, 
though some leave us in August or September, and return again in March. From the extreme 
south of England to the most northern portion of Scotland this Wagtail is a common and- 
generally distributed species, and it is met with as far as St. Kilda and Unst. Mr. Robert Gray 
says that the Inner Hebrides are in the winter season nearly deserted by the present species, and 
that in the Outer Islands, including St. Kilda, it appears to be strictly migratory, arriving in 
March and departing about the end of September. It seems, indeed, that though we have this 
bird with us throughout the year, a regular southward movement takes place thus: those which 
winter in the southern districts are the birds which have passed the summer season in the 
northern portions of our isles, whereas those which breed in the south of England migrate 
across the channel to seek winter quarters on the continent of Europe; hence the extreme 
northern portions of Scotland are deserted during the most inclement season of the year. It 
has been observed by Mr. Cecil Smith on the Island of Guernsey, where it is not uncommon; 
and in Ireland, as in England, it is very common, and generally distributed throughout the 
island. It has not been met with in Iceland or the Feroes, but has occurred on the west coast 
of Norway. Mr. Collett writes that Mr. Schiibeler, the parish priest, observed an individual in 
the summer of 1866 at Aaseral, in Christiansands Stift; and Professor Esmark recorded its 
occurrence at Christiania in 1859, where it was also seen in 1867 and 1868 by Mr. Feragen. 
An individual was also observed at Bergen in May 1869, by Mr. Friele; and in a letter just 
received from Mr. Collett he informs me that another specimen was obtained there in May 1871. 
It is also recorded from Sweden; but Professor Sundevall cites only one instance of its occur- 
rence; and in Denmark it is said by Kjerbolling to have only once been known to occur, he 
having obtained an example at Veile in April 1847. It is, however, very probable that it may 
have oftener occurred and been overlooked; for it has been frequently observed in large numbers 
during passage at Heligoland. I do not, however, find any recorded instance of its occurrence 
in Germany; and it is rare in Belgium during migration, only two or three examples having 
been obtained. In Holland, however, it appears to be of more frequent occurrence ; and Heer 
van Wickevoort Crommelin states that it has been known to pair with Motacilla alba. 
According to Messrs. Degland and Gerbe it “occurs rarely in the north of France, where it 
probably breeds, as a fine male in full breeding-plumage was shot near Lille in June. It is 
common in Brittany and in Anjou. M. Millet (Faune de Maine-et-Loire) says that it arrives 
about the middle of the autumn, and leaves about the end of March, when in full breeding- 
plumage.” Professor Barboza du Bocage speaks of it as being a common bird in Portugal; and 
