. Animate creation : popular edition of "Our living world" : a natural history. Zoology; Zoology. THE GRAY WAGTAIL. 229 " The pied "Wagtail of Europe {MotaciUa yarrelUl) is somewliat more robust in form, and in its full summer dress lias the whole of the head, chest, and neck of a full, deep jet-black ; while in tlie A\Tiite Wagtail {MotaciUa alba), at tlie same jjeriod, the throat and head alone are of this color ; the back and the rest of the upper surface being of a light ash-gray. In winter the two species more nearly assimilate in their coloring, and this circumstance
. Animate creation : popular edition of "Our living world" : a natural history. Zoology; Zoology. THE GRAY WAGTAIL. 229 " The pied "Wagtail of Europe {MotaciUa yarrelUl) is somewliat more robust in form, and in its full summer dress lias the whole of the head, chest, and neck of a full, deep jet-black ; while in tlie A\Tiite Wagtail {MotaciUa alba), at tlie same jjeriod, the throat and head alone are of this color ; the back and the rest of the upper surface being of a light ash-gray. In winter the two species more nearly assimilate in their coloring, and this circumstance has doubtless been the cause of their being hitherto considered as identical; the black back of MotaciUa yarreUii being gray at this season, although never so light as MotaciUa alba. An additional evidence of their being distinct (and which has doubtless contributed to the con- fusion) is, that the female of our pied AVagtail never has the beak black as in the male ; this part, even in summer, being dark gray, in which respect it closely resembles the other ; Another distinction maybe found in the shape of the beak, which is broader in the White than in the pied species. The White WagtaU is very common in France and the southern i^arts of Europe; but, although it may be found plentifully on the shores of Calais, the naiTow arm of the sea appears to be a boundary wMch it seldom j)asses. It is an occasional straggler in North America, and is therefore embraced in the catalogue of such GRAY ^ campestris ; and MEADOW pratenaia. The Gray Wagtail is a remarkably pretty and elegant example of this group of birds ; its plumage being delicately marked with various soft colorings, its shape slender and grace- tui, and its movements light and airy. This species is not quite so common as the pied Wagtail, and seems to migrate backwards and forwards in Europe according to the temperature. Of the far northern regions it is a. Please note that
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbr, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectzoology
