148 



latter form should be kept distinct. The only specimens I have been able to examine are two 

 from Batoum and one from Lenkoran ; but, as I am informed by Mr. Th. Pleske, there are 

 specimens in the St. Petersburg Museum from Lenkoran and from Demavend in Persia; hence, 

 so far as we at present know, the range of this form extends from the Black Sea to Persia. 



So far as I can ascertain, there are no details on record respecting the habits of this 

 Wagtail, in which, however, it doubtless does not differ from its near ally M. melanocephala. 



Ten years having now elapsed since the publication of vol. x. of the ' Catalogue of Birds in 

 British Museum,' in which the Wagtails were included, it may not be out of place to give a 

 short review of the Yellow Wagtails which, up to the present time, are known to inhabit the 

 Palsearctic Region, as follows : — 



Motacilla citreola, Pall., Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. x. p. 503. This and the following 

 species are recognizable by the adult male having the head and neck bright yellow, and in the 

 present species the back is dark ash-grey. Full particulars as to range, &c, wdl be found in the 

 ' Birds of Europe,' iii. p. 245. 



Motacilla citreoloides, Hodgs., Sharpe, op. cit. p. 507. Differs from the preceding species 

 in having the upper parts glossy black instead of grey. It is found in Turkestan, Afghanistan, 

 and eastward to the Eastern Tian-shan, Kansu, and Koko-nor, wintering in India. 



Motacilla raii (Bp.), Sharpe, op. cit. p. 510. Full particulars respecting this species will be 

 found in the 'Birds of Europe,' iii. p. 277. 



Motacilla flava, Linn., Sharpe, op. cit. p. 516. Dr. Sharpe separates Motacilla beema as a 

 subspecies of M.flava, but in this I cannot agree with him. All the Yellow Wagtails are 

 subject to variation, and after examining the series in the British Museum and in my own 

 collection I find it impossible to say how M.flava can be invariably separated from M. beema, 

 and in the series in the British Museum there are numerous specimens which are quite 

 intermediate and may be referred either to the one or the other. Besides the so-termed 

 M. beema has no separate range, but the two are always found together. Particulars of the 

 range of M.flava will be found in the 'Birds of Europe,' iii. pp. 261, 268. 



Motacilla viridis, Gmel. (B. of Eur. iii. p. 269), Sharpe, op. cit. p. 522. Dr. Sharpe here 

 also divides this species into two, on account of some specimens having a white superciliary line ; 

 but this I find most variable, as in some specimens there is the merest indication of the white 

 line, often only a spot, and in others quite a distinct white streak. One adult male in my 

 collection has a tolerably well-defined white streak over one eye, but not a trace of a streak over 

 the other ; some also have the throat white, and others have it yellow. 



Motacilla melanocephala, Licht. (B. of Eur. iii. p. 273), Sharpe, op. cit. p. 527. This, like 

 the preceding species, exhibits a tendency to variation, some specimens having a slight white 

 superciliary stripe; and Dr. Sharpe (op. cit. p. 531) separates these under the name M. paradoxa, 

 C. L. Brehm, but I disagree with him in the propriety of so doing. He gives the range of the 

 form with a white superciliary line as " from Hungary and Dalmatia to South Russia and the 

 Crimea as far as long. 47° E."; but in the series in the British Museum I find two specimens 

 from India — one, a female, obtained at Sambhur, 28th March, 1873, by Mr. B. M. Adam, and 

 the other, a male, obtained at Loyah, 10th March, 1872, by Mr. W. E. Brooks, both of which 

 have the white eyebrow, though they are labelled "' Motacilla feldeggi." One of these has the 



