162 
BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 
This species has the usual wide range of migratory birds common to 
both Europe and Asia. In winter it is found all over Southern Asia as 
far as Borneo and Singapore, and also in Europe and North Africa. In 
summer it migrates to Northern Europe and Asia. 
This Wagtail_, which is extremely numerous wherever it occurs, is 
usually found in swampy lands and grassy fields. After the water in the 
swamps has dried up_, it may be found abundantly in dry paddy-fields. It 
is one of the most graceful of the Wagtails. In Europe it places its nest 
on the ground_, under shelter of a tussock or on the side of a ditch. The 
nest is made of fine roots, straw and moss, and lined with horsehair and 
wool. The eggs, usually four or five in number, are white, spotted and 
otherwise marked with grey. 
155. BUDYTES FLAVUS. 
THE BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL. 
Motacilla flava, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 331 ; Dresser, Birds Eur. iii, p. 261, pi. 
Budytes dubius, Hodgs. in Gray's Zool. Ilisc. p. 83 ; Brooks, S. F. vii. p. 139. 
Budy tes beema, Sykes, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 90 ; Hume, S. F. ix. p. 334 (footnote), 
X. p. 227 (footnote). Budytes fiavus, David et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 302; Arm- 
strong, S. F. iv. p. 329 ; Hmne ^ Dav. S. F. vi. p. 364 ; IIu7ne, S. F. viii. p. 103. 
Description. — Male and female in by^ee ding -plumage. Very similar in 
general coloration to B. viridis in breeding-plumage. They difffer in having 
the grey of the head much paler, the ear-coverts grey streaked with white 
instead of being blackish, and in having a broad distinct supercilium 
extending from the bill to the nape. 
In winter plumage they can be distinguished with difiiculty from the 
last, unless some traces of the characters above noted are present. As a 
rule the supercilium exists in some degree or other, and by this the 
birds may generally be recognized. 
B. melanocephalus , which occurs in India, has a pure black head in the 
breeding-season, but at other times is not easily separated from B. viridis 
and B. flavus. Another species from China, B. taivanus, is very likely to 
be found in Burmah. In the breeding-season it has a long, distinct, deep- 
yellow supercilium, and in winter the yellow tinge on this part appears 
to be retained to a sufficient extent to render the bird always recognizable. 
All these Wagtails, however, vary very much in plumage in the winter, 
and many birds shot at this season cannot be identified with perfect cer- 
tainty. It is therefore advisable to shoot and preserve them in the autumn 
and spring, when nearly all the specimens will be found to have vestiges of 
the summer- or breeding-plumage. 
