I lO OUR SUMMER MIGRANTS. 



THE WHITE WAGTAIL. 



{Motacilla alba.) 



/'"'^LOSELY resembling the last-named in 

 ^~^ form and general appearance, the White 

 Wagtail long escaped observation as an annual 

 summer migrant to this country. Its dis- 

 tinctive characters, however, are now almost 

 universally admitted, and ornithologists ex- 

 perience little difficulty in recognizing the two 

 species. 



The particular respects in which the White 

 Wagtail differs from its congeners are noticeable 

 chiefly in the summer, or breeding plumage, 

 when the former has a black cap clearly defined 

 against a grey back, while in the latter the black 

 colour of the head merges in the black of the 

 dorsal plumage and no such cap is discernible. 

 In summer both species have the chin black, and 

 in winter the same parts in both are white. In 

 the immature and winter dress it is not so easy 

 to distinguish them, and in form and structure 



