MOTACILLA MELANOPE. 
(THE GREY WAGTAIL.) 
Motacilla melanope, Pall. Eels. Euss.Eeichs, iii. p. 696(1776); Dresser, B. of Europe, pt.41, 42. 
Motadlla boarula, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 997 (1788) ; Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 137 (1849); 
Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 121 (1852) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1853, xii. 
p. 268. 
Motacilla sulfhurea, Bechst. Gem. Naturg. Deutsclil. iii. p. 459 (1807); Newton, ed. Yarrells 
Brit. B. p. 552 (1873); Shelley, B. of Egypt, p. 127 (1872); Irby, B. of Gibraltar, 
p. 108 (1875). 
Calohates * sulphurea (Bechst.), Kaup, Natiirl. Syst. p. 33 (1829) ; Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. 
Mus. E. I. Co. i. p. 349 (1854); Jerdon, B. of Ind. ii. p. 220 (1863) ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 
1872, p. 458 ; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 22 ; Butler & Hume, Str. Eeath. 1875, p. 489. 
Calohates hoarula (Gm.), Hume, Str. Eeath. 1873, p. 201 ; id. Nests and Eggs, ii. p. 381 (1874) ; 
id. Str. Eeath. 1874, p. 237. 
Calohates melanope (Pall.), Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 364 ; Brooks, Str. Eeath. 1875, p. 250 ; 
Hume, B. of Tenass., Str. Eeath. 1878, p. 362; Ball, Str. Eeath. 1878, vii. p. 219. 
Bergeronnette jaune, French; Alvelda amarella, Portuguese; Jungle-Wagtail (Jerdon), The 
Grey-and-Yellow Wagtail. Mudi tigjpudu jitta^Tehx^n (Jerdon); Alveola, va. Azores 
(Godman); Kisekiri, Japan (Blakiston) ; Piepita, Spanish (Saunders). 
Adult nude and female (Ceylon). Length 7-3 to 7-5 inches ; wing 3T to 3-2 ; tail 3-55 to 3-9 ; tarsus 0-8 ; middle toe 
and claw 0‘65 ; hind toe 0-3, its claw (straight) 0-2.5 ; bill to gape 0-6 to 0-65. 
Iris olive-brown ; bill blackish horn, pale at the base beneath ; legs and feet brown or reddish brown. 
Winter plumage (Ceylon). Above ashy grey, slightly tinged with brown on the back, and the head somewhat pervaded 
with olive-greenish ; least wing-coverts grey like the back ; secondary and primary coverts, primaries, and secon- 
daries blackish brown, the greater coverts with paler edges than the rest of the feathers ; the tertials w-ith the 
distal part of the outer web edged whitish ; bases of the secondaries and tertials and the basal part of the inner 
web of aU but the 1st four primaries wdiite, running out towards the tip of the longest tertial feather ; rump 
greenish yellow, blending with the grey of the lower back, and brightening into yellow on the upper tail-coverts ; 
the 6 centre tail-feathers brownish black, with the margins near the base greenish yellow, the outer pair wholly 
white, the next two white, with all but the tip of the outer webs black, and the innermost pair with a black inner 
edge as well ; a yellowish superloral streak passing over the eye (where it widens and becomes white) to above 
the ears ; lores blackish ; ear-coverts dark grey, with a yellowish patch just below the eye ; throat and chest 
yellowish, deepening into bright yellow on the centre of the breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts, the latter 
being the brightest ; a few small brownish streaks on either side of the chin in some ; thighs dusky yellowish. 
The above is the plumage of the majority of adult birds w-hile they are in Ceylon ; many have a trace of the black 
summer throat in the dai-k markings just alluded to. The supercilium and cheek-patch vary in extent and in the 
amount of yellow in their colouring, some being whiter than others. Some have the head more olivaceous than 
others. 
* This Wagtail has been generically separated as Calohates by Kaup from the Black-and-White Wagtails {Motacilla 
restricted) on account of its different plumage. Its wings are said to be somewhat shorter, and its tertials less elongated ; 
these distinctions will not hold good if it be compared with a series of species of Motacilla. The hind toe is perhaps a 
little shorter ; but, on the whole, I prefer to follow Messrs. Dresser, Newton, and others, and keep the present species in 
Motacilla. 
