. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. 476 MOTACILLIB^. tinged with yellow, cspeciall_y on the lower parts; across the fore neck a broad crescent of black; remainder of under surface of body pure white, with a shade of grey on the breast and ashy on the sides of the body ; axillaries pure white ; under wing-covcrts also white; quills dusky brown below, with a great deal of white along the inner web. Total length 7'5inches, culmen 0*G, wing3'6, tail 3-7, tarsus 0-95. Obs. There is a great deal of diifcrence in the amount of olive on the back of the winter-plumagcd birds, and also in th
. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. 476 MOTACILLIB^. tinged with yellow, cspeciall_y on the lower parts; across the fore neck a broad crescent of black; remainder of under surface of body pure white, with a shade of grey on the breast and ashy on the sides of the body ; axillaries pure white ; under wing-covcrts also white; quills dusky brown below, with a great deal of white along the inner web. Total length 7'5inches, culmen 0*G, wing3'6, tail 3-7, tarsus 0-95. Obs. There is a great deal of diifcrence in the amount of olive on the back of the winter-plumagcd birds, and also in the extent of yellow on the eyebrow, face, and throat. The wings are those of the first plumage, but with much more white on the coverts and a larger extent of white along the inner web. No sooner is the winter dress completed than the approaching spring plumage begins to assert itself and the head commences to turn black, the black of the back appearing later. Thus Capt. Blakistou's collection contains specimens procured in October, one of which has a great deal of black on the head, while the other has the head uniform with the back ; the latter I consider to be a bird of the second brood, and therefore later in showing the approach of mature plumage. Along with the black on the head the black edges to the feathers of the throat show a cor- responding development. These changes of plumage are perfectly analogous to those undergone by the common Pied WagtaU of Europe (M. luguhr'is).. Wing of M. lugcns, showing the commencement of the white quills. The breeding-plumage is thoroughly assumed in the first spring, the black gradually extending on the throat, but not occupying the chin, while the whole back excepting the forehead becomes black, the quills and tail-feathers beuuj retained (though it would seem as if in some specimens the long inner secondaries were renewed in the spring, reappearing as black as the back, with broad white margins). This process of change, which is abun
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