M o t a c il l a a l b a , Linnaeus*.
THE WHITE WAGTAIL.
Motacilla alba.
T h e belief expressed in 1888, in the first edition of tliis
work, that the White Wagtail would he occasionally found
in this country has been verified in many instances, and it
may now be regarded as an annual summer-visitor to certain
localities. Its first recognized occurrence seems to have
been late in the month of May, 1841, when Mr. Bond found
two pairs of this bird on the banks of the reservoir at Kingsbury,
and shot two males and a female (Ann. and Mag.
Nat. Hist. vii. p. 350). In the spring of 1842, a specimen
was shot near Carlisle, which passed into the possession of
the late Mr. T. C. Heysham, and in April, 1843, three were
obtained by Mr. James J. Tratlian, near Falmouth (Zool.
p. 188). Mr. Bodd now states that in Cornwall this bird is
not uncommon in the spring-montlis, and the information
collected by Mr. More shews that there is good reason for
believing that it has bred in several parts of England. Thus
* Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 331 (1766).
Mr. Murray Mathew not only considers it a regular spring-
visitant to North Devon, but Air. Brodrick found a pair which
had a nest in a wall near Ilfracombe. At Freshwater in the
Isle of Wight also the nest is said to have been taken. A good
many examples have been observed or obtained in Sussex,
where it would seem to be a regular summer-visitant, and in
like manner in Kent it is said to appear yearly, while the
late Dr. Plomley and Mr. Gordon had no doubt of its breeding
in that county. Mr. Hewitson also mentions on the
authority of a correspondent that a hen bird was caught upon
her nest at Wliittlesea in Huntingdonshire. Mr. Cordeaux
states that it has been met with two or three times during
the last ten years on the coast of Lincolnshire towards the
end of March. Macgillivray said he had several times found
examples in the south of Scotland, and Mr. Gray observed
one, which was afterwards shot and examined by him, at
Dunbar in the winter of 1847. Saxby also saw a pair at
Lerwick in 1854. In Ireland Thompson believed it had
been observed by Dr. Ball in June, 1846, and Mr. R. Warren,
junior, killed one on the island of Bartra in Killala Bay,
25th April, 1851. Many other instances of its occurrence or
capture in various parts of the United Kingdom have been
recorded, in some of which it is quite possible that the observers
have been mistaken, but enough has been said on
this point. One remarkable fact however should be stated,
which is that the bird does not appear to have been noticed
either in Suffolk or Norfolk.
This Wagtail has a far wider range than the preceding.
Prof. Reinhardt says that a specimen was sent from South
Greenland in 1849.* I t is a common summer-bird in Iceland
and the Faeroes, and is found over the whole of Europe
from the North Cape to the shores of the Mediterranean,
crossing that sea into Africa, where it has been found, it is
said, so far south on the west coast as Senegal and on
the east as Zanzibar, but some doubt may be entertained
* The “ Motacilla alba" said (Ibis, 1860, p. 166) to have been observed at
Godhavn during the ever-memorable voyage of ‘The Fox’ was a Wlieatear
(Saxícola oinanthe), as the Editor was able to satisfy himself.