BTTDYTES B A T I.
BUDYTES RAYI.
Yellow Wagtail.
Motacillaflam, Flem. Hist, of Brit. Anim., p. 74.
______ flaneóla, Temm. Men. d’Orn., tom. iii. p. 183 (nee Pali.).
_______ flam Rayi, Schleg. Rev. Crit. des Oís. d'Eur., p. sxxviii.
Budfles Rayii, Bonap. Geog, and Comp. List of Birds of Eur. and N. Amer., p. 18.
H ost pleasing are the associations of spring ! “ Winter is over and gone;" the strength o f Boreas has been
expended in March ; floral May has appeared in maiden sweetness, and the southern migrants have one and
all responded to the invitation of the season. The earliest to appear are the Wheatear and the Ch.ffcliaff,
,o which succeed the Swallow and the other Hinmdme,-, next the pompous parasitic Cuckoo and its
•fostering sylvians (Sedge-Warblers, Reed-Wrens, and others) fall into their places; they are followed by
the Yellow Wagtail, the Turtle, the Corncrake, and the Swift, each arrival being in strict conformity with the
laws of migration. Flora's guests being assembled, the naturalist revels in the delights of the festival. It will
be seen that the Yellow Wagtail is neither the earliest nor the latest of these spring visitants m making .to
appearance; the young wheat must, however, be sufficiently high to cover the ground, and the mead be
decked in maiden freshness, before it will come to us. We may have heard the crak.ng note of the
Land-Rail or the voice of the Cuckoo, and the cheery song of the Whinohat may have attracted our notice,
vet the Yellow Wagtail is still absent; but the winds of the forthcoming night may waft it to our shores,
mid the next morning we may see it tripping sprightly before us. Before starting, it has donned its
finest plumage, is now at its best, and has come to meet its bride, or rather to await her coming; she
will not be long; and then coquetting and courting with her, and tilting and battling with other males, will
be the order of the dav, now by the river-side, and anon in the corn-field, or in the mead among the
buttercups with the colour of which the rich hue of its yellow breast vies in beauty. These displays and
man, other equally interesting actions of birds are seldom seen, except by the student of nature ever
watchful to increase his knowledge of her handiworks.
We who reside in England should be extremely proud of the beautiful Yellow Field-Wagtail; for ours is
almost the only coantrv in which it passes the summer. Why this should be, it is not easy to say; but such is
really the case ; near as is the Continent, it is rarely found in any part of it, its place in the western portion being
supplied b , the Budytu flam, in the central by B. cineraocapiUa, and in the eastern b , the B. mdameephala:
all three are strictly migratory, wintering in Africa, spending the summer months in more temperate and even
iu northern regions, some of them proceeding to very high latitudes, and there affecting hills of great e vation,
such as the Dovre and other mountains in Norway and Lapland; our species, however, is rarely found to the
northward of Britain. I have, it is true, a specimen from Heligoland; but that is the most northern loca ity
from which 1 have seen an example. That it is not identical with the species to which Pallas gave the name
• of MatadUa campestrh, I think probable, and I have therefore omitted that name from the synonyms given
above. Strange to say, this bird is very rarely seen in Ireland; when there, according to Mr. einpleman, it
is more common about Lough Neagh than elsewhere—“ an observation,” remarks Thompson. -
correct, requires explanation to prevent an erroneous inference. About the lake, generally it »*
nor have I been able during frequent visits to various parts of its shores to meet with it,
occasion, the 3rd of August 1846, when visiting its limited haunt at the north-west extremity of tins great
sheet of water, about Toome. Several were then seen at the side of the river Ban.., adjoining Toome bridge,
and the following dav ten (old and young) appeared at the margin of the lake below the bridge. laving
known it to be seen here in different years (perhaps forty have elapsed since Mr. Uunpleman obrerwdit), I
conclude that the bird is an annual visitant, and caunot but imagine that it wW yet he mu regu
some other favourite localities io the island,
MacGillivray informs m that it is also rare in Scotland, and almost absent t »* nort ni
country. St. John remarks that it is much more rare in Morayshire than the Grey Wagtail,
he only recollected seeing it two or three times. In Cornwall, according to Mr. Rudd, it is seen tor a ew
days'on its first arrival, and again in autumn on its return. Mr. Stevenson says it is a common summer
visitant to, and breeds in, Norfolk, " One can scarcely think of this beautiful bird," says he, " without ca ling
to mind the luxuriant herbage of our meadows and grass-fields during the spring moot . ow
are the colours of the male, io his nuptial dress, as he picks his way amongst a profusion of buttercups,
assimilating so closely to his own tints that bis actions only betray bis w erea uto. n sir rs
arrival we find them in busy little flocks on the Denes and grassy slope, by the sea-sbore, graceful ...