THE BIRD WORLD. 
The Yellow 
Wagtail. 
( 36 ) 
The Yellow Wagtail. 
The Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla rail). 
The Yellow Wagtail, one of the most brilliantly-coloured ot our British birds, differs from both our 
other common Wagtails, the Grey and the Pied, by being a summer visitant only. It especially frequents 
marshy meadow-land, where the rich yellow of its underparts vies with the buttercups. The upper 
plumage is olive-green. These fine colours are only seen in perfection in the male in summer ; in winter 
he becomes duller, as the hen always is. The young are drab and buff*, without any bright hues. Their 
shorter tails will, however, always distinguish them from our other Wagtails. This species is pre¬ 
eminently a Western one, wintering in Africa, and not going east of Western Asia ; the Eastern repre¬ 
sentative of this group of Wagtails being the Blue-Headed Wagtail (Alotacilla Hava ), which is only an 
occasional visitant with us. 
