208 BRITISH BIRDS. 



MOTACILLA FLAVA. 



BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL. 



(Plate 14.) 



Ficedula motacilla verna, Briss. Orn. iii. p. 468 (1760). 



Motacilla flava, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 331 (1766) ; et auctorum plurimonim — 

 Gmelin, Latham, Naumann, Temminck, (^Salvadori), (^Degland 8^ Qerhe), Newton, 

 Dresser, &c. 

 MotaciUa boarula, Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 154 (1769). 

 Parus luteus, S. G. Gmel Seise, iii. p. 101, pi. 20. fig. 1 (1774). 

 Motacilla campestris, Pall. Seise Suss. Seichs, iii. p. 696 (1776). 

 Motacilla chrysogastra, Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl. ii. p. 406 (1807). 

 Motacilla flavescens, Staph. Shaw's Gen. Zool. x. p. 559 (1817). 

 Motacilla bistrigata, Baffles, Trans. Linn. Sac. xiii. p. 312 (1821, partim). 

 MotaciUa flaveola, Pall. Zoogr. Sosso-Asiat. i. p. 501 (1826). 

 Budytes flams (Linn.), Brehm, Vdg. Deutschl. p. 344 (1831). 

 Budytes beema, Syhes, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 90. 

 MotaciUa neglecta, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 129. 

 Motacilla flava, var. vulgaris, Sundev. Vet. Ak. Handl. 1840, p. 53. 

 Budytes gouldi, Maogill. Man. Brit. B. i. p. 163 (1840). 

 Budytes scUsticeps, j 



Budytes dubius, >■ Hodgs. Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 83 (1844). 

 Budytes anthoides, ' 



The first British ornithologist who appears to have discovered that the 

 Yellow Wagtail of our islands was distinct from the " Gelbe Bachstelze " 

 of Germany was Gould^ who as long ago as 1832 pointed out the difference 

 between the two species. Two years later Doubleday shot an example of 

 the continental species at Walton-on-the-Naze, and since then it has been 

 frequently observed in various parts of the country. 



The Blue-headed Wagtail is chiefly known as an accidental straggler on 

 migration to our islands. It is usually found in the southern, south- 

 western, and eastern counties of England, generally in the spring or early 

 summer. Nests of this species have been found near Gateshead, and 

 doubtless it breeds in several other localities. It is a much rarer visitor 

 to Scotland, only one or two specimens having been recorded ; and Saxby 

 states that it has been observed late in autumn in Shetland. Although 

 not known to Thompson, it has been ascertained to occur in Ireland by 

 Mr. Blake Knox. It is said to have been twice found on the Faroes. 



The Blue-headed Wagtail, subject to some local variation, has by far 

 the largest area of geographical distribution of any species ia the genus, 

 extending from the British Islands across Europe and Asia at least as far 

 as the Rocky Mountains of America. It is common across the Channel, 

 and is found in Scandinavia south of lat. 60°, which appears also to be the 



