H 88 BRITISH BIRDS* 
THE PIED WAGTAIL. 
BLACK AND WHITE WATER- WAGTAIL, 
{ Motacilla Alba y Lin. — La Lavandiere> Buff.) 
The length of this bird is about feven inches? 
The bill is black ; eyes hazel ; hind part of the head 
and neck black ; the forehead, cheeks, and fides of 
the neck are white ; the fore part of the neck and 
part of the breaft are black, bordered by a line of 
white, in the form of a gorget ; the back and rump 
are of a deep afh colour ; wing coverts and fecon- 
dary quills dufky, edged with light grey ; prime 
quills black, with pale edges ; lower part of the 
breaft and belly white ; the middle feathers of the 
tail are black, the outermoft white, except at the 
bafe and tips of the inner webs, which are black ; 
legs black. There are flight variations in thefe 
birds ; fome are white on the chin and throat, leav- 
ing only a crefcent of black on the breaft. The 
head of the female is brown. 
