8*2 
MOTACILLID.E. 
as follows : — “ In tlie White Wagtail, the head is covered 
with a distinct hood of pure black, perfectly defined, and not 
mixing either with the grey of the hack, or with the white of 
the forehead ; the white on the cheeks and sides of the neck 
completely separates the black of the head from that of the 
throat and breast, there being no black before the shoulders ; 
the sides also are much lighter, and the tail is somewhat 
longer. In the female, there is no mixture of black on the 
back and nape, which there is in all the females of the Pied 
Wagtail that I have examined.” Although the usual time of 
the Pied Wagtail’s arrival is in autumn, I have occasionally 
seen it in spring. A large number were scattered over all 
parts of Yell and Unst about the end of March 1867, after a 
series of heavy gales from the south-west. 
THE WHITE WAGTAIL. 
Motacilla alba. 
On the 11th of June 1854, I saw a pair of White Wagtails 
in a road about a mile north of Lerwick. ^ The similarity in 
plumage betw^een this and the Pied Wagtail probably caused 
me to overlook the species for many years subsequently, for it 
was not until May 1867 that I again noticed it, this time in 
the island of Unst. A small flock seemed to have arrived with 
the strong east and north-east winds which then prevailed. 
They remained for about a week, but before their departure I 
managed to procure some good specimens. Possibly these 
unusual visitors w^ere stragglers from Earoe, where Captain 
Eeilden informs us it arrives in May. 
