Grey-headed Wagtail.
MotacUla flam, Linn, Faun. Suec., p. 92 ?
_ negUcta, Gould in Proc. of Comm, of Sci. and Con. of Zool. Soc., 1882, p. 1 29.
- - - (B u d y te s ) flam, Keys, e t Bias. Wirb. Eur., p. 49.
Buiytesflams, Cuv. Regn. Anim., 1817, tom. i. p. 371.
Bonap. Geog. and Comp. List of Birds of Eur. and. N. Amer., p. 18.
Gouldii, Macgill. Man. Nat. Hist., Om., vol. i. p. 163.
Some of the Field-Wagtails forming the genus Baiytes range throughout Europe, Africa, Persia, Ind. ,
and China, while one or more frequent Malasia, the great islands of Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and he
Moluccas; now, with a knowledge of the wide distribution of these birds, and of the great differences in the
colour of their plumage, we cannot, in my opinion, but believe that there are many distinct speeies, and no
only three or four, ns some are inclined to think. Structurally they are all exceedingly s>m,lar-so g j j
the anatomist from a comparison of their bony frames alone would, I believe, 6nd it exceedingly difficu
to separate them ; colour and marking, then, must guide us iu our inquiries respecting this group. Some
ornithologists have separated the European Field-Wagtails into three or four spec.es under as
names; others, while admitting that they differ, hesitate to view then.... that light. Dr. Schlegel, of Leyden
in his ■ Bevue Critique des Oiseaux d’Enrope/ while keeping both the yellow and the pied species under the one
generic name of H H I designates them thus M.flarn | g 1 B W B B L M~
flma melanocephala, and M. aireóla; but such trinomes are not admissible ,n modern zoolog.ca.1 nomenclature.
The bird under consideration Schlegel calls MotacUla flam, considering it to be the oldest named spec.es,
and the one to which Linnmns gave that specific appellation. This, however, m n.y opinion is questionable,
since it rarely goes so far north as Scandinavia, while that B . ánereocapilla commonly does so » certain g
for I killed many examples in those conntries, some with their breasts spotted g | | | g g 38 H H
in Linnseus’s description in the • Fauna Snecica f and this is the reason why B B — i i
W a m a term which, although not employed here, may subsequently have to be adopted for it and m that
■ M M ! will have to rank as a synonym to flam. B H B B H H i
H B are evidently regarded by Schlegel as varieties of the same species, while B. | g g
distinct Let us institute comparisons between the four nearest-alhed of these birds in t , r full nup.ml
attire. Can we for a moment associate our citron-faced Yellow Wagtail, with the J ^ k d i e a l |
melanocephala} or does its bright-yellow throat assimilate to the white throat of the grey-headed 5 . / « t , vel
aeglecta, or the dark ash-headed B . cinereocapUla ? If they be really the same, then we must unite with them
at least three species from India, and perhaps others from Africa and China. It would be quite out of place
here to venture upon the subject of the origin of species, or whence these distinctions emanated,
find in these birds, as well as in the typical ■ certain well-marked characters, which are very appanmu
in the fully adult birds, while the young so closely assimilate as to render it almost impossible to distinguish
one from I other. In this respect the European Wagtails are like the Sparrows, BggB| | cisalpinas, and P. hispanioleasis, the young of all three of which, but particularly U H B
extremely similar; I might also cite the members of the nearly allied genus Anthm of Europe and Asia,
were it necessary to sefect other groups bearing upon the subject of amalgamating or separating what may
or may not be considered species. My own opinion is that ornithological science will become more| | | j¡g g ¡
and better understood by the student if we treat of each of these constant i - — |
appellations. It is now time to say something of the countries where the present bird is found and of its S H our island. In Europe it is strictly a migrant. In the vernal months it passes the Mediterranean
hi meat numbers, resting on Its way on the Maltese and other islands, and spreads over manyof the sout ern
parts of tlie Oontineiit, but is more abundan, in France, Belgium, Holland, and the south of «ermany than
elsewhere. After breeding and passing the summer In those countries, it retires again an win
Africa following the same law, in this respect, as other southern migrants. In England its presence
with the Yellow Wagtail, a t others alone ; we may perchance meet with it the n y
■ J y rol. ove Without our again seeing it. A mere narrow strait separates this bird from ;
I d the cbalk H o f Dover may exchange greeting with those of Boulogne ; for each has g downs tenanted
with Yellow and Pied W a g ta il/d is tin c t from those of its opposite neighbour, and seWom are the^domains of
either encroached upon ; nature whispers to each their prescribed limits, beyond which they
proceed.