being much Larger than others, some much more deeply coloured, and
others most spotted at the thicker end, in the form of a zone or belt.
The young are hatched after an incubation of a fortnight; a second
brood is generally reared in the year, the former one having been
produced early.
Male; length, seven inches and a half to seven and three-quarters;
hill, deep black (it is wider at the base than in the next species;)
iris, dusky black; there is a narrow space of white over it. Short
bristles occur at the base of the T i p p e r bill; forehead, white; side of
the head, white; back o f the head on the crown, dee]) black, with a
glossy blue tinge in summer; neck, above in front, white, as is a
band on each side; on its lower part is a semicircular band of black,
narrowing upwards towards the base of the bill. Tn the spring and
summer the interval is filled up with black. Nape, deep black. Chin,
and throat, white in winter, black in spring and summer; breast
below white, the black narrowed into the form of a crescent, the
sides tinged with grey; back, above, in summer, dec]) glossy bluish
black; on the middle, greyish black, with a tinge of green in some
individuals, becoming darker as tin; season from spring to summer
advances, but still generally tinged with grey, though in some
specimens it is entirely black; in winter blackish grey.
The wings extend to t h e width of eleven inches and a half or one
foot, and reach t o within two inches and a h a l f of the end of the tail;
the second quill feather is the longest, the first longer than the third,
but all nearly equal. Yarrell describes the first as the longest. Greater
wing coverts, black or greyish black, in winter or summer respectively,
margined, most in summer, with greyish white; lesser wing coverts,
according to the time of the year, black or greyish or brownish black,
their edges and tips more white in summer, the extreme edge grey,
both forming two bars of white on the wing; primaries, greyish black,
some of them margined on the inner web with greyish white in summer;
secondaries, the same, the white edge wider in winter, and tinged with
grey; tertiaries, one of which is very Long, the same, the edge still
wider, but less in summer. The tail, which is very long, and composed
of twelve narrow feathers, rounded at the ends, and of nearly equal
length, has the eight middle feathers black; the outside one on each
side is usually white, with a narrow black wedge-shaped band along
the inner e d g e , excepting towards the e n d ; t h e next also is white,
with t h e inner black baud more extended—the base of both black;
t h e third has a narrow margin of white; the middle pair are the
wide-.t at t h e base, but much narrower towards the tip. Upper tail
coverts, which are very long, d e e p black, with a glossy blue tinge in
summer; under tail coverts, white. Legs, toes, and claws, deep black,
the hind claw rather short.
The female resembles the male. Length, seven inches and a half;
the crescent on the fore part of the neck is not so large, and in the
summer it is tinged with grey. The breast is greyish white; the back
has more grey, especially in summer, '['he wings expand to the width
of ten inches and three-quarters, or from that to eleven and a quarter;
the quill feathers are dusky; the tail has the two middle feathers
brownish black.
In the young the bill is dusky, the edges partly yellowish. There
is a narrow light grey or yellowish white streak over the front of the
forehead; head behind and crown, grey, darker than the back; neck,
in the front and on the sides, greyish white. The throat has a dusky
line down each side, forming a curved band in the front; the white of
the breast is obscured with grey and yellowish brown, and the crescent
is but obscurely indicated; sides, light grey; the back is dull grey, in
some specimens tinged with green. Greater and lesser wing coverts,
blackish brown, edged with greyish white, making two bands; primaries
and secondaries, the same colour; greater and lesser under wing coverts,
greyish brown, tipped with whitish. The tail has the middle feathers
blackish brown, the rest darker, the two side ones nearly all white;
upper tail coverts, grcv, darker than the back. Legs and toes, brownish;
the feathers on the former are greyish brown, edged with whitish.
After the autumnal moult the colours become more distinct; the head
is still grey, the crescent on the breast is black, and the back is darkergrey.
A. E. Knox, Esq. says, 'These birds moult soon, having completed
the change at the end of July, or early in August. The black
feathers gradually disappear from the throat in both sexes, and the
dorsal plumage becomes of a lighter colour in each; the back of the
male assuming the grey of the female during the breeding season,
while that of the female, and the young of the year in both sexes,
changes to a very light grey. Indeed, between the two latter, there is
no external difference of appearance.' This moult is completed at
various periods, from the end of August to the end of October; the
difference being, doubtless, the consequence of there having been one
or two broods. In the spring there is another moult, which commences
in February, and is completed by the middle of April. The throat
first changes, then the head, back of the neck, sides, back, and breast,
in succession; but the quill feathers of the wing and of the tail arc
not changed.
Pied varieties of the Pied Wagtail, are on record; also one was