WAG 
grave, is about the fize of a kite ; but Ray fays that 
it is not inferior in magnitude to the common 
Vulture. It has a long tail; and the whole plu- 
mage of the body is black. The head is fmalJ, 
and covered with a wrinkled fkin of various co- 
lours; being yellow on the left fide below the eye, 
and blue above, as well as on the top of the head : 
the remaining partis reddilh. The beak is pretty 
long, very crooked, and covered half way with a 
fafFron-coloured (km. In the middle of the up- 
per part of the beak there is a wide noftril, with 
only one aperture, placed crofswife. The extreme 
part of the beak is white, anddeftituteof any (kin; 
and the eyes are ruby-coloured, with round black 
pupils. 
Labat calls thefe birds a kind of turkey-cocks, 
which feed wholly on carrion, and never touch 
fruit, corn, or herbage. 
Vulture, Tawny. This fpecies, which is a 
WAGEL. An appellation by which the na- 
tives of Cornwall exprefs a fpecies of the 
larus, or fea-guU; known among fome ornitholo- 
gifts by the name of martinazzo. 
In the Linnaean fyftem, the Wagel is the La- 
rus Nabvius. The whole plumage of the head 
and body, above and beneath, is a mixture of 
white, afli-colour, and brown: the laft colour oc- 
cupies the middle of each feather; and is pale in 
fOme birds, in others dark. The quill-feathers 
-are black; the lower part of the tail is mottled 
with black and white, towards the end of which 
. there is a brown black bar; and the tips are white. 
> ' Some writers have confidered the Wagel as the 
young of the herring-gull; but Pennant feems to 
have eftabliflied the contrary opinion on the wioft 
permanent foundation. It has alfo obtained the 
name of the dung-hunter; probably for the fame 
reafon that others of it's genus have been dignified 
with that title. 
WAGTAIL. A genus of pafleres: the cha- 
radters of which are; that the bill is ftraight and 
Tubulated; the mandibles are almoft equal; the 
tongue is lacerated, and has a margin or rim round 
• it; and the noftrils are ovated. Linnaeus enume- 
rates fifty-nine fpecies ; aniong which are the 
nightingale, / black-cap, petty-chaps, reed-fpar- 
. row, ftone-chatter, wheat-ear, whin-chat, white- 
-throat, wren, &c. 
All birds of this kind have vei'y long tails, 
which are always in motion; and from this cir- 
^-cumftance they receive their name. . 
Wagtail, White; die Motacilla Alba of Lin- 
-nseus. This bird weighs about fix drams; is 
eight inches long from the tip of the bill to the 
extremity of the tail; and the expanfion of the 
wings is eleven inches. The head, back, and 
neck as far as the breaft, are black; in fome the 
•chii> is white, and the throat mgrked with a black 
erefcent. The breaft and belly are white; the 
I, ^q\iill-fc4thcrs are .dufk.y j and the coverts are black. 
WAG 
native of the Falkland Iflands, is about tv.'o feet 
four inches long. The bill is duflcy, fhort, and 
thick, and covered at the bafe with a large, thick, 
bridled cere. The noftrils are fmall, and placed 
obliquely near the edge of the bill; the fpace he-< 
tween the bill and the eyes is naked ; and the rdl of 
the head is covered with plumage. The chin is 
bearded with a tuft of long flender feathers; the 
head, neck, back, breaft, belly, and thighs, are of 
a pale tawny colour; the coverts of the wings are 
mixed with brown ; and the tail, which is long and 
rounded, is of a dirty white hue, barred with nar- 
row oblique ftrokes of brown. The legs are lonw, 
flender, and blueifti ; and the clawa are long, and 
flightly bent. 
The brown, the fpotted, and the black Vulture 
of Egypt, agree with the general defcription of 
the Vulture; and are chiefly diftinguifhed by their,, 
colour. ' 
tipt and edged with white. Tlie tail is very long, 
and continually in motion: the exterior feather on 
each fide is white, the lower part of the inner web 
excepted, which is duflcy; and the others are 
black. The bill, the ihfide of the mouth, toge- 
ther with the legs, are black ; and the back claw 
is remarkably long. 
This fpecies frequents the fides of ponds and 
fmall ftreams; and feeds on infefts and worms like 
the reft of the genus. It ftiifts it's quarters in 
Winter, direfting it's courfe from the north to the 
fouth of England; and in Spring and Autumn it 
conftantly attends the plough, in purfuit of fuch 
worms as are turned up by that inftrument. In 
fome places it builds it's neft under the eaves of 
houfes, in the holes of walls; and lays four or five 
eggs. 
Wagtail, Yellow; the Motacilla Fiava of 
LinnfEus. This fpecies has a ftraight,. iharp- 
pointed black bill, except at the bafe of the lower 
chap, which inclines to a flefti-colour. The irides 
are hazel; and the top of the head, the upper part 
of the neck, and the back, are afli-coloured, flightly 
edged with yellowifli green. 
The male is a moft beautiful bird; the breaft, 
belly, and thighs, being of a moft vivid and beau- 
tiful yellow colour. The throat is marked wirh 
fome large black fpots ; a bright yellow line pafles 
above the eye, and below that another of a duflcv 
hue, from the bill acrofs the eye ; and beneath the 
eye there is a third line of the fame colour. The 
head, the upper part of the neck, and tlie back, 
are of an olive-green colour, which brightens in 
the coverts of the tail. 
The colours of the female are more obfcure than 
•thofe of the male; and ftie is dellituteof the black 
fpots on the throat. The legs and feet are of a 
duflcy colour ; and the claw of the hind .toe is pretty 
This bird makes it's nefl: on the ground, among 
corn, bents, and ftalks of herbs; andjines theln- 
fide 
