MOTACILLA PERSONATA. 



(MASKED WAGTAIL.) 



Motacilla personata, Gould, B. of Asia, iv. pi. 63 (1861). 



Motacilla maderaspatana, Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. E. I. Co. Mus. i. p. 347 (1854, partim). 



Motacilla dukhunensis (nee Sykes), Jerdon, B. of Ind. ii. p. 218 (1863). 



Motacilla cashmeriensis, Brooks, Proc. As. Soc. Beng. 1871, p. 289. 



1 Motacilla baicalensis, Dybowski, J. f. O. 1873, p. 82, partim. 



Trjasoguska, Russian ; Kok-sunduk, Turki ; Dhobin, Hindu. 



Figurce notabiles. 

 Gould, B. of Asia, pi. lxiii. ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. x. pi. v. figs. 3, 4. 



6 ad. M. alba similis, sed capite, collo toto usque ad dorsum, gula et gutture nigris : regione oculari et 

 postoculari cum fronte albis : secundariis et tectricibus alarum magis albo marginatis : rostro et 

 pedibus nigris : iride fusca. 



$ ad. mari similis. 



Ptil. Mem. pilei plumis cinereo marginatis et guise plumis albo marginatis : corpore supra sordidiore et remi- 

 gibus secundariis cum tectricibus alarum angustioribus albo marginatis. 



Adult Male (Turkestan, March 9th) . Differs from M. alba in having the black on the head and neck much 

 further extended, and the secondaries and wing-coverts are much more broadly margined with pure 

 white ; the black on the head continued to the fore part of the back, the sides of the neck, and the 

 fore part of the breast, the white being restricted to a broad frontal band, the region round the eye, 

 and a small patch behind the eye : bill and legs black ; iris dark brown. Total length about 7"5 inches, 

 culmen - 65, wing 3" 75, tail 3"8, tarsus 1"05. 



The sexes do not differ in plumage. In the winter the black on the head and throat is obscured by grey 

 edgings to the feathers on the crown, and by white edgings to those on the throat, the grey on the 

 upper parts is rather duller, and the margins to the secondaries are narrower. 



The range of this Wagtail extends from Transcaspia in the west to Calcutta in the east, and 

 from Siberia in the north down to India, where it winters. According to Messrs. Badde and 

 Walter (Vog. Transcasp. p. 44) it also remains over the winter season in the lowlands of Trans- 

 caspia, whereas Motacilla alba is a regular migrant there. They also obtained lately-fledged 

 young birds at Germab, Askabad. According to Mr. Zarudny (Bull. Soc. Mosc. iii. p. 790) it is 

 " not uncommon on the banks of the upper part of the Murghab, and in the Pinde oasis, in the 

 latter part of June. Its absence at Merv, along the central part of the Murghab and along the 

 Tedgend, may be explained by the complete absence of the sand-banks which are the necessary 



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