THE GREY-HEADED WAGTAIL. 
161 
Genus BUDYTES, Cuvier. 
154. BUDYTES VIRIDIS. 
THE GREY-HEADED WAGTAIL. 
Motacilla viridis, Gm. Sijst. Nat. i. p. 962 ; Dresser, Birds Eur. iii. p. 269, pi. 
Motacilla cinereocapilla, Savi, Nuovo Qiorn. d. Lett. p. 190. Budytes 
viridis, Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 222 ; Salvad. Ucc. Born. p. 260 ; Bl. B. Burin, p. 96 ; 
Anders. Yunnan Exped. p. 608 ; Legge, Birds Ceylon, p. 617. Budytes 
cinereocapillus, Salvad. Ucc. Born. p. 261 Brooks, J. A. S. B. xliii. pt. ii. 
p. 249 ; David et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 303 Hume Sf Dav. S. F. vi. p. 363 ; Hume, 
S. F. viii. p. 103 ; Gates, S. F. x. p. 226. 
Description. — Male and female in breeding -plumage . Whole head from 
the bill to the nape deep slaty ; lores and ear-coverts nearly black ; a 
narrow indistinct line of white over the lores ; a short streak of white 
occasionally behind the eye, frequently absent ; upper plumage dull 
greenish yellow ; upper tail-coverts brown_, margined with yellowish ; 
lesser wing-coverts brown^ margined with yellowish ; median and greater 
coverts brownish black, edged and margined with yellowish white ; quills 
brown^ the secondaries and tertiaries margined with yellowish white on the 
outer webs ; four central pairs of tail-feathers black ; the two outer pairs 
black at base and white on the terminal portion^ the junction being oblique; 
chin white ; the whole lower plumage bright yellow, a little dusky on the 
lower throat. 
In winter the head becomes greenish yellowish like the back, and the 
ear-coverts also turn yellowish; the yellow on the lower parts is much 
duller, and the eve-streak becomes distinct. 
Young birds are greenish brown or brown above, and more or less 
fulvous or white below, with spots on the throat and breast. 
Bill blackish brown, the base of the lower mandible yellowish ; iris 
brown ; legs, feet and claws dark horn-colour. 
Length 7 inches, tail 3"I_, wing S 2, tarsus '9, bill from gape '7, hind 
toe and claw "7 to "9. The female is of about the same size. 
In breeding-plumage this species is easily recognized by its deep slaty 
head, blackish ear-coverts, and by the absence of any distinct white super- 
cilium. In winter plumage, unless they retain some traces of the above- 
noted characteristics, they are hardly distinguishable from other allied 
species. 
The Grey-headed Wagtail is abundantly distributed in the winter over 
the plains of Arrakan and Pegu. Mr. Davison found it only in the 
northern and central portions of Tenasserim, as far south as Tavoy. 
This must, however, have been due to accident, as this Wagtail occurs 
as far south as the Malay peninsula. Capt. Wardlaw Ramsaj^ procured it 
in Karennee at 3000 feet elevation. 
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