margins near tlie base; the outermost feather edged with fulvous
along the outer web and tipped with dull white on the inner web,
the penultimate feather with a dull whitish tip ; a narrow eyebrow
running from the base of the nostril, and a ring of feathers round
the eye, dull white; ear-coverts rufous brown, streaked with whity-
brown, the upper edge of the ear-coverts dark brown, forming with
the dusky brown feathers in front of the eye a second streak running
through the eye below the white eyebrow; cheeks and throat dull
white; rest of under surface fulvous brown with fawn buff bases to
the feathers, the chest and sides of body with narrow rufous-brown
shaft-streaks; edge of wing and axillaries deep olive yellow; rest of
the under wing-coverts dull brown washed with olive-buff on their
edges, the outermost of the greater series and the quills below ashy
brown, the latter pale rufous-buff along the inner webs. Total
length, 6-8 inches; culmen, 0’7; wing, 3'45 ; tail, 2-6; tarsus, 1’05;
hind toe, 0'5; its claw, 0‘45.
531. M otacilla longicauda, Rupp. Long-tailed Pied Wagtail.
This very elegant Wagtail is rare within the bounds of the colony.
A single specimen was procured near Graham stown by Mr. Glanville
on the 28th of May, 1868, and Mr. Rickard obtained another a,t the
Buffalo River on the 3rd of January, 1871. We have also seen a
skin preserved by Mr. P. A. Barratt, who shot it near Kingwilliams-
town: this specimen is now in the collection of Mr. Francis
Nicholson. Mr. Ayres has met with it in Natal, whence also some
few skins have been forwarded by his son to Captain Shelley.
The following notes on this species in Natal are given by Mr.
Ayres:—“ These Wagtails are particularly graceful in their movements.
They frequent rocky streams, and go so close to the rushing
water that one expects to see them washed away every instant.
They appear to glide rather than walk or run over the stones in
search of insects, and are not at all afraid of wetting their feet.
Soft small dragon-flies are favourite food with them. They are
generally seen in pairs, and warble very prettily though not loudly.”
We must mention that Professor Barboza du Bocage records a
Wagtail obtained at Biballa, which he says agrees in colour with the
present species but is rather smaller.
Adult male.—General colour above clear blue-grey; lesser wing-
coverts blackish edged with a little darker grey than the back;
median and greater coverts black, tipped with white, the inner ones
more broadly; inner greater coverts white with a black centre to
the outer web; bastard wing, primary-coverts and quills black, only
the inner secondaries edged with white, narrowly along the inner
web, very broadly along the outer one; upper tail-coverts grey like
the back, the lateral ones externally white ; four centre tail-feathers
blackish, edged with greyish white, the remainder of the feathers
pure white; head a little duller grey than the back, scarcely
perceptible except on the forehead; a distinct superciliary streak of
white from the base of the nostril to above the ear-coverts, as well as
the upper and under edge of the eyelid; lores and ear-coverts blackish,
the latter washed with ashy and having a patch of white on their
posterior lower half; cheeks, throat and under surface of body pure
white, including the thighs and under tail-coverts; across the foreneck
a crescentic bar of black, wider in the centre; sides of breast
and flanks slightly washed with ashy grey; axillaries and under
wing-coverts white; the external greater coverts blackish like the
under surface of the quills, which are white at the base of the inner
webs; “ bill black; legs grey; iris brown ” (Ayres). Total length,
7 inches; culmen, 0‘7; wing, 2'95; tail, 3-8; tarsus, 0'8.
Adult female.—Similar to the male.
Young.—Browner than the adult and having the middle tail-
feathers somewhat mottled with white indentations near the base;
the white markings on the wings abraded and much less distinct;
the black collar on the fore-neck much narrower and browner than
in the adult.
532. M otacilla vidua, Sund.J African Pied Wagotail.
Motacilla aguimp, Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 119.
Le Vaillant found this species first on the borders of the Orange
River, about the 28th degree of south latitude, and thence to the
tropic. We have received one or two specimens from Beaufort
West, more from Colesberg, and several from Kuruman and the
Free State. Mr. Rickard procured a fine male in full plumage on
the 9th of June, 1870, at East London, and we are indebted for a
specimen to Mr. T. 0. Atmore, who shot it at Hopetown. In Natal
Captain Shelley says that he “ only saw single specimens or pairs of
birds at the edges of the rivers and brooks near Durban.” The
late Mr. Frank Oates met with it on the Crocodile River, and
2 N