M o t a c il l a f l a v a , Linnaeus*.
THE BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL.
Motacilla flava.
S in c e Mr. Gould, in July, 1832, pointed out the distinction
between the common Yellow Wagtail of this country and
that which inhabits the nearest parts of the continent, the
latter has been not unfrequently observed in the United
Kingdom; it is therefore fully entitled to consideration in
any woik on British Ornithology. Mr. Gould then very
clearly shewed (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 129), what had
never been even suspected before, that the Motacilla flava
of all prior British writers was not only distinguishable from
the bird so called on the continent, but that our Yellow
Wagtail was almost as rare, and as little known abroad, as
was the foreign Yellow Wagtail f here. Later experience
has but little, if at all, affected the position taken up by Mr.
Gould, for, though the Blue-headed Wagtail (to use the first
* Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 331 (1766).
t When this bird was first recognized by Mr. Gould, he called it M. neglecta,
supposing it to have been overlooked by other naturalists, and continued the
name M. flava to the British form. On its subsequently becoming clear that
the former was the true M. flava of Linnaeus, it was necessary to adopt a new
name for the latter, and that of M. raii is now applied to it as will presently
appear more fully.
distinctive English name applied to it) is now believed to be
of almost annual occurrence and even to have bred in this
country, and our Yellow Wagtail has been observed in many
parts of Western Europe, it cannot be gainsaid that each
has in the main a separate if not a very well-defined range.
Moreover, so far as the Editor knows, no examples sufficiently
intermediate between the two birds to give rise to
any doubt in referring them to either have been found, and
accordingly the recognition of each seems to be as much required
as that of the two black-and-white Wagtails already
described. But it is to be observed that besides a very distinct
species, the M. citreola of Pallas, Europe is inhabited
by at least four forms of Yellow Wagtail, which some
authors regard as so many good species, while other writers
consider them subspecies, races or local varieties. The first
of these, the common Yellow Wagtail of this country, M.
raii, will immediately be treated of at length. The second
is the subject of the present article, the Blue-headed Wagtail—
undoubtedly the M. flava of Linnaeus* and the ill.
neglecta of Mr. Gould, which, except M. raii, lias the
most westerly range, and the cock in breeding-plumage has
a bluish-grey crown and ear-coverts, with white eyebrows.
The third is the M. cinereicapilla, long ago described by
Savi as having a dark grey crown, black ear-coverts and
no white superciliary streak. The fourth is that which
is commonly called M. melanoceplialaf with or without a
superciliary streak of yellow or white, but having an intensely
black head. But between these last three, examples are said
to be found so intermediate that it is almost impossible to
determine to which they belong,! and the difference between
* In his full description of the adult male of this hird (Faun. Sveo. Ed. 2,
p. 92) Linru.eus expressly mentions its characteristic “ lineola supra oculos alba.
T This name was first given to a Wagtail by Lichtenstein, but it is perhaps
questionable whether it should be allowed to stand, since there is a very different
bird, one of the Warblers, which was long before called M. melanocephala by
J. ?! Gmelin; and there are some authorities who consider the true M. melano-
cepliala of Lichtenstein even to be distinct from the European bird usually so
termed, naming this last M. nigricapilla.
X Such an example shot some years ago near Penzance, and now in Mr. Rodd’s