MOTACILLA XANTHOPHRYS. 



(YELLOW-BROWED WAGTAIL.) 



Motacilla melanocephala, var., Seebohm, Ibis, 1884, p. 428. 

 Motacilla xanthophrys, Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. x. p. 532 (1885). 



Figura unica. 

 Sbarpe, op. cit. pi. viii. fig. 6 (head only). 



c? ad. M. melanocephalce siniilis, sed stria superciliari conspicue flava. 



Adult Male (Lenkoran) . Crown, nape, and sides of the head, including the ear-coverts, deep hlack, rather 

 duller in tinge on the lower part of the nape ; above the eye a distinct bright yellow stripe ; upper 

 parts olive-green, rather brighter on the rump ; wings blackish, the median coverts edged with pale 

 yellow, and the larger coverts and inner secondaries margined with buffy white, the primaries very 

 narrowly edged with white ; tail black, the two outer feathers white, obliquely marked with black on 

 the basal portion of the inner web, the central tail-feathers narrowly edged with yellow ; upper tail- 

 coverts with dusky black centres ; underparts rich canary-yellow, the sides of the upper breast slightly 

 marked with dull blackish: bill and legs black; iris dark brown. Total length about 5 "3 inches, 

 culmen - 55, wing 3 - 15, tail 2"6, tarsus - 95. 



Obs. I have not been able to obtain a female for examination, and, in fact, have never seen but three 

 specimens, two of which were marked as being males, and the third, though the sex is not stated, is 

 evidently also an adult male. These three specimens vary very little inter se, the only difference being 

 that in the specimens from Batoum the black on the head and neck is extended on to the fore part of the 

 back, thus much further than in the bird from Lenkoran. The measurements of these three specimens 

 are as follows: — Culmen 055, 0'55, and 053 inch; wing 3 - 15, 3 - 35, and 32; tail 2 - 6, 2 - 72, and 2 - 9; 

 tarsus 0'95, 09, and 08. 



In the article on Motacilla melanocephala in the ' Birds of Europe ' (iii. p. 274) I remarked that 

 specimens were said sometimes to occur having an indication of a yellow superciliary stripe, 

 but that I had never been able to procure one. In the Brit. Mus. Cat. of Birds, published ten 

 years later, Dr. Sharpe described as distinct a Wagtail from Lenkoran, in the collection of 

 Mr. H. Seebohm, which had a distinct yellow superciliary stripe, but I have always been inclined 

 to regard it as an individual variety, and not a distinct form. Quite recently, however, I have 

 received from Professor Menzbier, of Moscow, two specimens from Batoum which agree closely 

 with Mr. Seebohm's specimen, and I am therefore inclined to think that Dr. Sharpe was justified 

 in describing this form as distinct, especially as Prof. Menzbier considers it to be a good species. 

 Moreover, in all the specimens of Motacilla melanocephala which I have at different times 

 examined, including the large series in the British Museum, I have not found any intermediate 

 examples between that species and M. xanthophrys, which strengthens me in the view that this 



