Descriptive List of the Common Birds 
the ground, sometimes making little sallies into 
the air after their quarry, and run with great 
speed. ‘They never hop. They constantly 
“wag the tail,” hence their popular name. 
The wagtails are distinguished from the pipits 
by their brighter colouring and longer tails. 
Pipits are earth-coloured birds with dark stripes 
along the vein of each feather. 
All the wagtails except M. maderaspatensis 
are merely winter visitors to the plains of 
India. 
gt. Motacilla alba: The White Wagtail. 
(F. 826), (J. 591), (- IL.) 
General colour of plumage grey. Face, chin, 
and throat white, back of head and nape 
black; a black patch on the breast, the re- 
mainder of the lower plumage is white. The 
wings are black with much white in them. 
The middle tail feathers are black, the outer 
ones white. [In all wagtails the outer tail 
feathers are white, and show up very distinctly 
during flight.] 
Not found in S. India. (Illus. B. B., p. 111.) 
92. Motacilla maderaspatensis: ‘The Large 
Pied Wagtail. (F. 831), (J. 589), (II) 
A black bird with a conspicuous white eye- 
brow. The breast and lower plumage are 
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