MOTACILLA CITREOLA, 
APPENDIX A. 
WueEN the article on this species was issued I was enabled to give but very meagre details 
respecting its nidification, gleaned entirely from the notes published by Dr. Dybowski, who 
met with it breeding in Dauria. Since then I have had an opportunity of examining a very 
rich series of skins, eggs, and nests collected on the Petchora river, in Northern Russia, by 
Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown, this spring (1875). ‘These gentlemen found it, curiously 
enough, breeding further north than Motacilla viridis, and extremely common; and the former 
of them sends me the following notes, which are the more interesting as they are, I believe, the 
first published respecting the nidification of IZ. citreola in Europe. 
“The Yellow-headed Wagtail,” Mr. Seebohm says, ‘is the commonest bird in summer in 
the delta of the Petchora. It is most abundant on the willow-swamps on the islands, but is 
also found in similar situations on the tundra. We were not able to get much information 
respecting the date of its arrival. We did not meet with it at Ust Zylma; but lower down 
the river, at Haberiki, we met with a party of five on the 4th of June. The White Wagtail 
arrived at Ust Zylma on the 12th of May. Motacilla viridis arrived on the 17th, and was very 
abundant both at Ust Zylma and at Haberiki; north of Haberiki it became less and less 
abundant, whilst Motacilla citreola became more so. At Churvinski, near the Arctic circle, 
both species were making preparations to breed. In the delta Motacilla viridis disappeared 
altogether, whilst Motacilla citreola became extremely abundant. It is impossible to imagine 
that the tens of thousands of these birds in the delta had migrated by way of Ust Zylma and 
entirely escaped our notice. In the Ornithological Catalogue of the University at Kasan it is 
mentioned that this bird arrives at Kasan, whilst the common species have young, about the 
middle of April, and that a few pairs remain until the beginning of June. They probably 
follow the valley of the Volga to Kasan, thence up the Kama and down the Petchora to the 
junction of the latter river with the Ussa. Instead of then turning south-west, as the Petchora 
does, down to Ust Zylma, they will most likely keep a nearly north course and reach the delta 
up the valley of the Ussa and across the tundra. 
“The Yellow-headed Wagtail builds its nest in the long grass which soon covers the open 
spaces between the willows after the floods caused by the sudden melting of the snow and the 
breaking-up of the ice have subsided. ‘The nest is very difficult to find; but we succeeded in 
securing ten. They were built of dead grass with almost always a feather or two somewhere, 
and generally, but not invariably, lined with the hair of cows or reindeer. Five was the usual 
complement of eggs; but one or two nests contained six. ‘The first eggs we obtained on the 
19th of June; a month later we caught a young bird scarcely able to fly; and by the Ist of 
August fully fledged young were abundant. The male appears to take its turn in the duties of 
incubation; and both birds are noisy enough when you approach the nest, the male frequently 
flying up to the intruder, singing defiantly in the air. We did not meet with this bird on the 
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