194 . TIED, OR YARRELL’S WAGTAIL. 
The Pied, or Yarrell’s Wagtail — Mota- 
cilla Yarrellii, Gould. — Motacilla alba, Linn. 
— 'Motacilla Yarrellii, Gould, Mag. of Nut. Hist, 
for 1 837> p. 459- — Pied or White Wagtail of 
Modern British Authors. — From the account of 
Mr Gould, given in the work quoted above, there 
can be no doubt that our modern ornithologists 
have been mistaken in the synonimy of the Pied 
Wagtail, and that two birds have really been con- 
founded. The British species seems not to have 
been described by most of the older writers, if we 
except Willughby, who hints at the existence of 
“ two kinds,” but only figures that commonly met 
with on the Continent. Linnasus also describes 
the gray backed bird, which appears curious when 
we read Mr Gould’s statement, that Norway and 
Sweden are the only localities where he had been 
able to procure our common bird. 
In an alpine country the habits of our native 
black backed bird are very similar to those of 
the last. It breeds and rears its young in the 
same localities ; but where the country becomes 
more densely peopled, the manners are accommo- 
dated to circumstances, and the nest, though 
generally placed in the vicinity of water, is often 
built in the midst of a manufactory, and without 
apparent interruption from the noise and constant 
moving about of workmen. In autumn, flocks 
of this species, composed of the young broods, 
assemble together, and may be found feeding by 
the margins of streams, or on the bare unculti- 
