90 



MOTACILLIDiE, WAGTAILS. GEN. 27, 28. 



n 



Pig. 33. Yellow Wagtail ; 

 natural size. 



subfamilies are generally recognized, though the distinctions are scarcely more than 

 generic. 



Subfamily MOTACILLINJE. True Wagtails. 



Eepresented in America hy a single species ; in the Old World by nearly fifty 

 species or varieties, chiefly belonging to the genus Motacilla and its subdivisions 

 or immediate allies, of wliich Bvdytes is one. In Motacilla itself, the hind claw is 

 of about the ordinary length and curvature ; in Budytes, the hind claw is longer 



and nearljr straight, and the tail is about as long as the 

 wing, the point of which is formed by only three quills. 



27. Genus BUDYTES Cuvier. 



Yelloiu Wagtail. Greenish-olive, beloAV yellow ;' 

 crown and nape ashy, superciliary line white, wings 

 and tail blackish, white-edged. Length 6; wing 

 and tail about 3. Alaska; a well known, widely 

 spread and extremely variable Old World species, unknown in America 

 until the recent discovery by Dr. Bannister that it is abundant at St. 

 Michael's. Dall and Bann., Trans. Chicago Acad., 1869, 277, pi. 30, 

 f . 2 flava. 



Subfamily ANTHIN^E. Titlarks. 

 Consisting of the single genus Anthus, of which, however, there are several sub- 

 divisions. In typical Antlnis, the wing is longer than the tail, and its point is 

 formed by the four outer primaries, the 5th being abruptly shorter ; the hind claw 

 is nearly straight, and nearly or quite equals its digit in length. Here belong our 

 species ; in certain South American forms even five primaries enter into the tip of 

 the wing ; in several European subgenera only three primaries are abruptljr longer 

 than the succeeding ones. Our Anthus is strictly congeneric with the European 

 A. spinoletta, type of the genus : Neocorys only diflers in having the feet larger 

 and tail shorter. About fifty species (among them six or eight Central and South 

 American ones) are ascribed to Antldnce, of which half may prove genuine. They 

 are terrestrial and more or less gregarious birds, migratorj^ and insectivorous. 



28. Genus ANTHUS Bechstein. 

 Broiun Larh. Titlarlc. Wagtail. Pipit. Dark brown with a slight 

 olive shade, and most of the feathers with dusky centres, giving a slightly 

 streaked appearance ; eyelids, superciliary line and all the 

 under parts pale bufl'y or ochi-ey brown (very variable in 

 shade), the breast and sides of the neck and body thickly 

 streaked with dusky; wings and tail blackish, inner sec- 

 ondaries pale-edged, and one or more outer tail feathers 

 wholly or partly white ; 6^-6f, wing 3^-3J, tail 2J-3. 

 North America, everywhere ; an abundant and Avell 

 known l^ird of fields and plains. In the United States, 

 seen chiefly in flocks, in the fall and winter: breeds in 

 high latitudes, and in the Rocky Mountains, above the 

 timber line, as far south as Park county, Colorado (^Allen) ; lays 4-6 very 

 dark colored eggs in a mossy nest on the ground; voice querulous, gait 



1 



FlOr. 34. Brown Lark; 

 natural size. 



