ray’s yellow wagtail. 
219 
of this once occurred to me. Being on the Thames one 
clay, early in May, I saw a pair of Yellow Wagtails on 
the bank of the river. Observing that they were very close 
together, and being, at the time, in want of specimens, I 
fired, and winged one of them. The other bird, although 
apparently much frightened, remained hovering over its 
mate that lay on the grass, and touched it with its little 
feet and beak repeatedly. I was much grieved at having 
deprived the little creature of its mate, and as it would 
not be driven away, I loaded my gun again and shot the 
second bird on the wing, which fell close by its companion. 
The plumage of these two birds was very nearly similar 
when seen at a distance, but, on examination, the yellow 
underparts of the female were not so rich in colour, and 
the streak over the eye and the chin nearly white ; the 
breast was strongly tinged with ochre, and the crown of 
the head and nape were bistre. Earlier in the spring, we 
have observed still more difference in the plumage of the 
two sexes. 
An adult male, shot the dtli of July, had the following 
plumage. The top of the head and nape, the back and 
scapulars, and the upper coverts of the tail, olive, tinged 
with yellow; the cheeks the same. The forehead, a streak 
over the eye, and all the under parts rich golden yellow. 
The bill, orbits, and legs, black; the claws exceedingly 
slender. (This specimen had the crown of the head grey¬ 
ish-white, from the wearing away of the feathers ; it was 
moulting.) The under surfaces of the wings were hoary. 
The two outer tail-feathers on each side are white, except 
a portion of the inner web in a slanting direction, so that 
when the tail is spread they appear quite white. The 
rest of the tail-feathers are blackish-brown, slightly edged 
towards the root with yellow. The wings hair-brown, all 
the feathers slightly edged with yellowish-white. The en- 
yol. ti. 
Q 
