6 
shores of the lagoon beyond the islands of the delta. Both the call- and the alarm-note of this 
bird, as well as the low chattering song, are very similar to those of Motacilla viridis. We 
brought home about sixty skins of this bird, and could easily have got ten times that number if 
we had had time to prepare them. ‘They were very tame; and it was no uncommon thing for 
half a dozen or more birds to be within shot on various conspicuous twigs of the willows at the 
same time. Comparatively few of the males were in complete adult summer dress, most of them 
having more or less of black streaks on the head; and several of both sexes showed traces of the 
gorget of spots on the lower throat characteristic of immature birds. There is not much variety 
in the size or colour of the eggs: some are bluer than others; and the spots of some are more 
confluent than usual.” 
