612 
MOTACILLA MELANOPE. 
(coll. Swiulioe) vary from 3-3 to 3'8 ; and Mr. Dresser gives one at 3-9 ; he states that the Azores birds have 
shorter tails than any others, averaging 3-5. 
Distribution . — The Grey-and-Yellow Wagtail arrives in Ceylon about the middle of September, taking up 
its quarters along the whole of the northern and western sea-boards. Stray birds arrive at the beginning of the 
month. Mr. Bligh has seen it as early as the Cth September in Hapntale. It remains on the coast for a few 
days, and then moves into the forests of the northern half of the island, taking up its abode on the sandy beds 
of all the partially dried rivers. The majority of the birds, however, betake themselves to the hills in the 
centre and south of the island, resorting to the streams in the coffee -districts and following up the Maha- 
welligaiiga and its affluents to their source. About Nuwara Elliya it is very common, frequenting the road- 
side ditches, the borders of the lake, and every little stream on the plain. It is also found on the Horton 
Plains about the banks of the Maha Elliya, which, even at that great altitude, is a stream of considerable 
magnitude. Soon after its first arrival in the Western Province, it, for the most part, quits the low country 
to the south of the Maha oya, and, with the e.vception of the northern forests, may be considered a hill- 
visitant. It leaves again in March. 
This \\''agtail has, when viewed as being identical with the European bird, a very wide ratige. I will first 
consider its habitat in Asia, and then in Europe and Africa. It is a winter visitor to continental and peninsular 
India, arriving in September and leaving in April. Captain Butler’s dates for its migration in the north-west 
are Sept. 5th to 30th April. It spreads throughout the empire, ascending the hills and taking up its quarters 
on mountain-streams, as in Ceylon. Mr. Bourdillon says that it is a common winter visitor in Travancore. 
Many remain to breed in Cashmere and along the Himalayas, which is the only part of India in which it 
can be said to be stationary. On the eastern side of the Bay it passes through Burmah to Tenasserim, in which 
province it is sparingly distributed on the more open portions •, thence it finds its way across to the islands, 
where Mr. Davison remarks of it, “Not common on the Andamans or Nicobarsj” he procured it on Pre- 
paris as late as the 26th of March. Down the peninsula of Malacca it must also wander, as it is found in 
Sumatra and still further east in Java. In the former island Mr. Buxton lately procured it. It is found 
throughout China, probably breeding in the northern hilly parts, and is a winter visitor to the east coast, 
Hainan, and Formosa [Swinhoe). Although it is doubtless resident in many regions beyond the Himalayas, yet 
there is a northward migration to some of them ; for Col. Prjevalski, in Ids ‘ Birds of Mongolia,’ rcmai-ks that it 
arrives at Muni-ul, South-east Mongolia, on the 22ud April. It passes through parts of Turkestan, and is 
found rarely in the north-western portion in winter up to 4000 feet altitude. Further north it occurs all across 
the southern parts of Siberia to Japan, where it must be resident, as Messrs. Blakiston and Fryer record it 
breeding on Fujisan and Tokio. It is found in Trans-Baikal ; and Mr. Seebohm procured it, during his travels 
on the Yenesay, within the Arctic circle. In Palestine it is, according to Canon Tristram, a winter visitor, 
departing before it acquires its breeding-plumage. It occurs likewise in Arabia, but only on passage. 
Tuning to Europe, we find Mr. Dresser stating that it is met with there “ as far north as the British 
Isles and Northern Germany;” and in these parts it is mostly a resident, although it moves about, extending 
its w'aiiderings, as it does in England, after the breeding-season. In Sardinia, Mr. A. B. Brooke says it is 
common all the year, breeding in the mountains ; and Mr. C. A. Wright found it to be a winter visitor to Malta, 
some few' remaining to breed. In Portugal it is said to be common ; and at Malaga Mr. Howard Saunders 
often observed it in winter, and found it abundant in the Sierra Nevada and other ranges, w'hile Col. Irby 
states that it is’abundant in Andalucia in winter and on passage. It is resident throughout the year in Turkey, 
and visits Greece in the autumn, passing the winter in the Cyclades according to Professor Newton. It is 
recorded by De Filippi from the Caucasus. It is found ou the Carpathian mountains'; and its range north 
of that locality is thus described by Professor Newton: — “This Grey Wagtail does not visit Iceland, the 
Faroes, or Norway. It has been observed in Heligoland, and a single example is said by Prof. Nilsson to have 
been shot in the extreme south of Sweden ; its most northern occurrence in Germany, near Kiel, w'as recorded 
by F. Boie, more than 40 years ago ; and in that country it is chiefly confined to the mountainous districts, 
which only exist in the central and southern parts. It is, however, also said to have occurred once in Posen.” 
It is found tlu'oughout the British Isles, but does not breed south or east of a line drawn from Start Point 
through the Derbyshire hills to the Tees. It is a summer visitant to Orkney, and occurs at the end of the 
