Figure: Gould, Birds Europe, 143.
Motacilla alba.
28489
Sp. Char. (9,410 ♂, Nürnberg). Forehead as far back as above the eyes, with sides of head and neck, white; the remaining portion of head and neck above and below to the jugulum, black; the rest of under parts white. Upper parts ashy-gray, including rump; the upper tail-coverts tinged with black. Wings with two conspicuous bands and the outer edges of the secondaries white. Tail-feathers black; the outer two white, edged with black internally. Bill and legs black. Tip of wing formed by outer three primaries; the distance between the third and fourth about one third that between the fourth and fifth. Tarsi lengthened; claw small; hind toe and claw shorter than the middle, its claw short, considerably curved, less than the toe alone; lateral toes nearly equal. Length, 7.30; wing, 3.45; tail, 3.90; bill from nostril, .37; tarsus, .86; hind toe and claw, .50.
Hab. Continental Europe, rarer in England; Iceland; Greenland (only two specimens seen); Siberia; Syria; Nubia, etc.
Motacilla yarrelli, a closely allied species, by some considered a variety only, differs in having the rump black, the ashy of the back glossed with blackish, and with the black edging of the lateral tail-feathers broader.
Motacilla alba.
Habits. The common White Wagtail of Europe claims a place in the
North American fauna as an occasional visitant of Greenland, where in two instances single specimens have been procured. It is found in all portions of the European Continent, from the islands of the Mediterranean as far north as the Arctic regions. It appears in Sweden in April, and leaves there in October. Mr. Gould states also that it is found in the northern portions of Africa, and in the highlands of India. It also occurs, though less frequently, in England, where it is replaced by a local race, or an allied species, Motacilla yarrelli of Gould. The Motacilla alba is said by Temminck to inhabit meadows in the vicinity of streams of water, villages, and old houses. Its food is chiefly insects in various stages and of different kinds.