. An illustrated manual of British birds . f by successive bounds, andmoving its wings like a butterfly, which indeed, from the red andwhite markings displayed, it much resembles. Its course is gene-rally zig-zag, and the tail is not used as a means of progression. Adult male in breeding-plumage : slate-grey above, darker on thehead, and darkest on the rump ; wing-coverts mostly crimson ; quillsblackish-brown, tipped with dull white, the 2nd to 5th each with abasal and a sub-apical white spot on the inner web, from the 6thinwards only a basal spot; outer webs of nearly all the primariesrich cr
. An illustrated manual of British birds . f by successive bounds, andmoving its wings like a butterfly, which indeed, from the red andwhite markings displayed, it much resembles. Its course is gene-rally zig-zag, and the tail is not used as a means of progression. Adult male in breeding-plumage : slate-grey above, darker on thehead, and darkest on the rump ; wing-coverts mostly crimson ; quillsblackish-brown, tipped with dull white, the 2nd to 5th each with abasal and a sub-apical white spot on the inner web, from the 6thinwards only a basal spot; outer webs of nearly all the primariesrich crimson, forming a bar ; tail black, tipped with grey and white ;throat and breast black ; remaining under parts dark grey; bill, legsand feet black. The female has rather less black on the throat. Inwinter that part becomes greyish-white in both sexes ; the head isbrowner and the upper parts are paler. The young bird at first ex-hibits less crimson and has a shorter bill, but the black throat isacquired the first spring. ;:.. THE PIED WAGTAIL. Motacilla , Temrainck The Pied Wagtail was first distinguished from the White Wagtailof the Continent by Temminck, who conferred upon it the abovescientific name; in ignorance of which, Gould, seventeen years later,called our bird M. yarrelli. Throughout the British Islands it is acommon and generally distributed species : visiting the extremenorth of Scotland in March and remaining to breed, but migratingsouthwards, as a rule, on the approach cf winter. It nests,sparingly, in some of the Hebrides and Orkneys ; but in St. Kildaand in the Shetlands it is only known to occur on the springand autumn migrations. In Ireland it is common and on the wholeresident, but is partially migratory as regards the northern districts ;and even in England there is a general movement southward inautumn, and northward in spring. The late Mr. Knox observedlarge flocks early in September, mainly composed of young of theyear, travelling a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidillustra, booksubjectbirds
