TIED WAGTAIL.
llltlTH \ FITCHES. T I N S I N O I , Y GWYS, OF T H E A N C I E N T B R I T I S H.
W \ T F . R W A G T A I L . W H I T E W A G T A I L . B L A O K - A N D - W H I T B W A G T A I L.
W I N T E R W A G T A I L . PKHGY-WASH-DISH. D I S H - W A S H E R.
Al'tatiHa YarnUii, GOULD. MACGII.LIVRAY.
" alba, LINN/F.US. LATHAM.
" lotor, RENNIE.
Mofacffla—k Wagtail. Yarret!ii—0{ Yarrell.
ONE is often led to wonder, and doubtless the same remark would
apply to other lands, how the most trivial names of antiquity keep
their place in the vocabulary of the country, while modern inventions
last but for the day, or for the hour, and are then consigned for ever
to the 'tomb of all the Capulets.' We may soon be lost in speculation
as to the time when each of such old names was first assigned, and
who it was that gave it; what combination of circumstances first procured
for it the honour of the durability which bids fair to be perpetual;
and through what succession of changes it has been maintained. These
considerations make us smile at the vain conceits of some of our
modern self-styled naturalists. Do they really think, dogmatically as
they may lay down the law to their own entire satisfaction, that their
whimsical combinations will ever be adopted by the people of the
country—that the old will be displaced to make room for the new ?
They are fondly mistaken if they entertain the notion. The name of
the favourite and elegant little bird before us—no case of ' lucus a
non lucendo' will ever remain one of the 'old standards:' no 'weak
invention' will ever supersede it in the idiom of the nation. The
Wagtail will always continue a Wagtail, not only in nature, but also
in name.
Two species are now believed to have been hitherto included under
one; that which is the commoner in this country being comparatively