According to our own observations by far the greater number of these Wagtails pass the winter in Central Africa, and we have also seen them constantly in Egypt at that season, wandering about the pastures with the cattle, and even accompanying them to their drinking-places.
THE YELLOW-HEADED WAGTAIL.
The YELLOW-HEADED WAGTAIL (Budytes citreolus), a native of Central Asia, is somewhat larger than the species above described. Its length is seven inches, its breadth ten and a half, the wing measures three inches and a half, and the tail three inches and one-third. The summer plumage of the male is of a bright citron-yellow on the head and entire under side; the nape and upper portion of the back are black, the centre of the back slate-grey, and the rump brownish black. The small feathers on the wing-covers are greyish brown, broadly edged with dark grey, the centre and large feathers are margined with broad white borders, which alone are visible; the primaries and lower secondaries have narrow white edges, and the upper secondaries a broad white border to the outer web; the eight central tail-feathers are brownish black, and those at the exterior almost entirely white. The eye is brown, the beak and feet black. The female, who is not so large as her mate, is yellow on the brow, and greyish green on the top of the head and nape; the back is dark grey, the rump deep slate-colour; the cheeks and under side are of paler yellow than in the male, and the white lines on the wings narrower and more clearly defined. The young are grey above, and white shaded with yellow on the under side. Radde informs us that some few of these birds are met with in the central parts of Western Siberia, and that further east they become very numerous. According to Jerdon they are found throughout India during the winter, and there, as elsewhere, frequent marsh-land or the immediate vicinity of water.
"This species," says Jerdon, "is remarkable for the great length of the hind claw. It is found all over India in the cold weather, being migratory, and probably breeding in North-eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is not very abundant, and is never found in dry places, like the Indian Field Wagtail, but on the banks of lakes or rivers, and more particularly in swampy ground or in inundated rice-fields, apparently affecting concealment more than others of this group. It has been obtained in breeding plumage at Mussooree, and is then a very beautiful bird."
THE GOMARITA, OR GARDEN WAGTAIL.
The GOMARITA, or GARDEN WAGTAIL (Nemoricola Indica), has been separated from the bird above described on account of the shortness of the claw on the hinder toe, and the peculiar coloration of its plumage. The upper part of the body is greenish brown, the under side yellowish white; a double band of black passes over the breast, and a white stripe above the eye; the blackish wings are decorated with two white lines, and a third stripe passes across the base of the primary quills; the centre tail-feather is brown, the next in succession are blackish, and those at the exterior white, but blackish at the root, and edged with brown on the outer web. The eye is brown, the upper mandible pale black, the lower mandible whitish; the foot is light yellow, shaded with purplish brown. This bird is six inches and a half long, and ten broad; the wing measures three inches and one-eighth, and the tail two inches and five-eighths.
The Garden Wagtails are found throughout India, Ceylon, China, and Japan; according to Jerdon they are comparatively rarely seen in Southern and Central India, but are very numerous on some of the surrounding islands. Everywhere they frequent woods, forests, shady gardens, and plantations, living in solitude except during the breeding season, after which they remain for some time assembled in small parties or families. These birds do not migrate, and they moult their feathers but once in the year. Layard tells us that the Gomarita, or "Dung Spreader," as this species is called in Ceylon, receives its name from its habit of seeking for insects in the droppings from the cattle.
"The Black-breasted Wagtail," writes Jerdon, "is found throughout the whole peninsula of India and Ceylon, but is common nowhere; it is indeed rare in the southern provinces and in the bare table-land of Central India, and is not recorded from the North-western Provinces nor the Himalayas. It extends to Arracan, Burmah, Malacca, and some of the Malayan islands, where it is much more common than in continental India. I have only procured it myself in my own garden and on the Malabar coast. It appears not uncommonly about Calcutta, and, according to Blyth, at all seasons. It is quite a wood-loving species, never being found in the open plains, nor, that I have seen, about rivers, being chiefly found in shady gardens and orchards, and in roads in the forests. It is usually solitary, and feeds on various insects. It has no seasonal change of colouring, and appears to be found, at all events in the more northern parts of India, all the year round."