THE BLACK-BACKED YELLOW WAGTAIL. 163 
Mr. Brooks urges that the Eastern and Western forms of the Blue- 
headed Wagtail are distinct. He says that in the latter the head is darker 
grey_, and there is an amount of very dark grey on the cheeks mixed with 
a small white streak or two_, whereas in the former or Eastern race the 
cheeks are pale grey mixed with a great deal of pure white^ and the crown 
is always of a pure light grey when in full plumage. I have^ however, 
examined a large series of specimens from Europe and India, and, while 
admitting that the above distinctions hold good in many instances, they do 
not in all, and I therefore cannot agree with Mr. Brooks in keeping them 
separate. 
The Blue-headed Wagtail occurs very sparingly in Pegu in winter. Dr. 
Armstrong procured two specimens from the Rangoon river, and Mr. Hume 
mentions having received it from near Rangoon and from Bassein. I 
have never met with it, although I have paid special attention to the 
Wagtails for some years. It must, consequently, be looked upon as rare. 
Mr. Davison procured it in Tenasserim from Amherst down to Bankasoon. 
It probably occurs also in Arrakan. 
In winter it is widely distributed, being found throughout Southern Asia, 
the greater portion of Africa, and in Southern Europe. In summer it 
migrates to the central portions of Europe and Asia. 
The habits of this species are precisely similar to those of B. viridis. 
156, BUDYTES CALCAEATUS, 
THE BLACK-BACKED YELLOW WAGTAIL. 
Budytes calaratus, Hodgs. As. Res. xix. p. 190 ; Hume, Nests and JEygs, p. 382 ; 
Wald. in Bl. B. Burm. p. 96 ; Hume ^ Dav. S. F. vi. p. 361 ; Anders. Yunnan 
Exped. p. 609 ; Hume, S. F. vii. p. 402, viii. p. 103 ; Biddulph, Ibis, 1881, 
p. 69 ; Scully, Ibis, 1881, p. 452. Budytes citreoloides, Hodgs. in. Gray's Zool. 
Misc. p. 83 ; Gould, Birds Asia, pt, xvii. ; Hume ^ Henders. Lah. to Yark. p. 224.. 
Budytes citreola (Pall), Jerd. B. hid. ii. p. 225. 
Description. — Male in breeding-plumage. Whole head, neck, and lower 
plumage bright yellow; back, scapulars, rump and upper tail-coverts 
black; lesser wing-coverts dark brown mottled with yellow; median and 
greater coverts blackish, tipped and margined very broadly with white; 
quills brown, the primaries narrowly, the secondaries moderately, and the 
tertiaries broadly margined with white on the outer webs ; the four central 
pairs of tail-feathers black, the next pair brown on the basal half and white 
on the terminal half ; the outer pair white, with the base brown. 
In winter the top of the head and the black of the upper plumage change 
to greenish olive-brown, the ear-coverts and sides of the head are marked 
m2 
