History of British animals - University of Guam Marine Laboratory

74 BIRDS. PASSERES. Anthus.spotted with light brown and ash-colour. The young birds have the underside of a dirty white, the breast a brown ash, and no black on the throat.Retires in the severity of winter to the sea-shore.74. M. boarula. Grey Wagtail.— Above grey, beneath bu iffy-yellow,vent and rump pale yellow.M. cinerea, Will. Orn. 172. Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 368.— M. boar. Temm.Orn. i. 257 — E, Winter Wagtail ; W, Brith y fyches lwyd.—Chieflyobserved in winter.Size of the last. Bill dusky ; legs brownish. Irides dark hazel. Throatblack, a white band above the eyes and sides of the throat. Wing-coversand quills black, bordered with yellowish-white. The three outer tail-featherswhite, the second and third, with the outer web, black at the base, theothers dusky. In winter the black on the throat disappears. The femalewants the black on the throat according to Temminck, but she possesses itaccording to Montagu, whose accuracy, in this respect, is attested by Mr Selby,—" illustrations," p. 211. Nest in heaps of stones. Eggs 6, pointed,dirty white, with reddish spots.— Breeds in Devonshire, according to MrTucker {Mont. Orn. Diet. Supt.) Besides in other parts, during the winternear streams.months, chiefly— 75. M.Jlava. Yellow Wagtail. Plumage olive-green above,beneath bright yellow.WUl. Orn. 172. Sibb. Scot. 18. Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 3G2. Temm. Orn.i. 2G0.— IV, Brith y—fyches felen. A summer visitant.Size of M. alba. Bill and legs black. The hind claw long and nearly straight.Irides hazel. A white streak over the eye. Quills and tail dusky, but thetwo lateral ones of the last white from the middle. Female more cinereousabove, and whiter below. Nest in holes in the ground, or at the roots oftrees ; of dry grass, lined with hair. Eggs G, rounded, olive-green, with fleshcolouredspots. Young like the female, with reddish-brown markings on thebreast and belly.— Chiefly frequents cultivated ground, and seems less attachedto water than the other species. It constitutes the subgenus Budytes ofCuvier, Regne Animal, i. 371.Gen. XXXVI. ANTHUS. Titling.— Mandibles, withthe margins inflected near the middle ; the upper with aridgeat the base.76. A. pet?'orsus.Sea Titling.— Hind-elaw the length ofthe toe. Over the eye, and on the ear, a white streak.Variety of Titlark, Penn. Brit. Zoo], i. 258—Alauda obscura and petrosa,Mont. Lin. Trans, iv. 41—Anth. aquaticus, Temm. Orn. i. 265.— E,ltock Lark— Common on the sea shore.Length 7, breadth 11^ inches; weight 7 drams. Bill black, witli a yellowishmargin the inside of the mouth ; yellow. Feet dusky, with a tinge of yellow.Irides deep chesnut. Plumage, above, dusky olive, with pale edges, onthe head, neck, scapulars, and rump, inclining to cinereous. Beneath, white,with a tinge of yellow on the breast, and obscure longitudinal spots on thesides. Qudls black, edged with pale yellow. AVings, when closed, extendto half the length of the tail. Tail, with the two middle feathers, greyishbrown,the others black, the lateral ones dirty white for half their length.Female less than the male ; more dusky above, having little olive or ash onthe back. Nest of dried grassor algae, with a few hairs.Eggs 4 or 5 dirtywhite, with numerous specks of brown, crowded and confluent at the largerend. In the young the upper parts have a tinge of olivaceous ash colour ;