Mr. H. Seebohm on the Ornithology of Siberia. 347 
and M. alba, or, as the Indian bird is generally called, M. duk- 
hunensis. The remaining species, M. luzoniensis, inhabits the 
eastern plains of India in winter. Swinhoe has clearly pointed 
out (P. Z. S. 1870, p. 120) that this bird has no right to the 
name luzoniensis. Scopoli founds his name upon La Ber- 
geronette a collier de Pile de Lu 9 on'’^ of Sonnerat, in his 
^ Voyage a la Nouvelle Guinee,^ vol. i. p. 61, pi. 29. Sonnerat 
describes the colour of the back as “gris de cendre,'’^ and figures 
a Wagtail with a grey back, very white wing-coverts, a white 
forehead, cheeks, and throat, but with a gorget of black on 
the breast confluent with the black on the neck and head. 
It might represent a female of M. hodgsoni, or a male of M. 
per sonata in winter plumage; but inasmuch as no white Wag¬ 
tail has been recorded since from this locality, I think we are 
perfectly justified in cutting the Gordian knot by ignoring 
the name altogether. 
M. alboides is in summer a black-backed Wagtail with a 
black breast. The forehead is white, and a white band sepa¬ 
rates the black on the head and neck from the black on the 
breast, as in M. alba ; but besides the black back, it differs 
from M. alba in never having the throat black. In winter 
the back is more or less grey, but the shoulders remain 
black. 
I think there can be no doubt whatever that this bird is 
the Motacilla alba, var. paradoxa of Schrenck, who figures it 
and describes it as breeding in the Amoor-land. 
Motacilla lugens, Temm. et Schl. 
Motacilla lugens, Temm. et Schl. Fauna Japonica, Aves, 
p. 60, pi. 25 (1850). 
Motacilla japonica, Swinhoe, Ibis, 1863, p. 309; P. Z. S. 
1863, p. 275. 
After having just stated that the amount of white on the 
wing of a Wagtail cannot be considered a specific charac¬ 
ter, it may appear somewhat paradoxical to assert that the 
principal and most trustworthy character of this bird is the 
great amount of white on the wing. In this species, however, 
it is not only the wing-coverts, but the secondaries and some of 
