WHITE WAGTAIL 41 
MOTACILLA ALBA, Linn. WHITE WAGTAIL. 
Mr. J. Townsend, of Prestwich, writes me: ‘ While staying 
a few days at Port Erin in the spring of 1899 I saw a pair 
of White Wagtails (JZ. alba), and duly reported same in the 
Field for April 29, 1899.’ 
On 19th May 1892 Mr. Graves saw on Peel shore a 
Wagtail ‘ which agreed in every detail with a specimen of 
the White Wagtail in his collection. The back and neck 
were distinctly grey, and the white on the head was very 
marked.’ 
On 3rd May 1903 I observed about twelve mature birds 
on the shingle of Castletown Bay just above high-water 
mark, where they remained for at least a week, feeding 
among the cast-up and decaying wrack. 
These are, as far as I am aware, the only records. 
The White Wagtail, one of the few small birds which 
are summer residents in Iceland and Faroe, is met with 
regularly in many parts of Britain, including the west of 
Ireland and some of the Hebrides. It occurs both in 
Lancashire and Cumberland, and in Galloway is observed 
almost every spring by Mr. Service; but its exact distribu- 
tion is rendered uncertain by the difficulty of distinguishing 
it from the next and common species, of which it is the 
continental representative. As, however, it is traced on 
migration from Cornwall along the Welsh coast to the 
Solway and. Clyde areas and the Hebrides, its occurrence 
on the Isle of Man is doubtless regular. 
