98
THE BIRDS OF ESSEX.
At Epping and at Sudbury Edward Doubleday and W. D. King respect-
ively record it (15 & 20) as "a winter visitant." Henry Doubleday writes to
T. C. Heysham in 1831 (10), " The Grey Wagtail is very rare here, and I never
could get one in summer plumage." Mr. Buxton says (47. 89) it is " not
uncommon along the Roding in winter." Round Orsett, it is uncommon, being
only occasionally seen, and never breeding (Sackett). It occurs in both the Col-
chester and Paglesham districts (Laver). Mr. Joseph Clarke tells me of one shot
on Oct. 2nd, 1878, at The Roos, where it is rare. At Dedham, on Oct. 29th,
1887, Mr. Stanley Edwards shot a young bird which he had observed for several
weeks feeding on the lawn in front of his house. Mr. Fitch has seen it at Maldon.
Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail: Motacilla flava.
A rare straggler to Britain from the Continent. It has been most
often met with in the eastern, southern, and south-western counties.
The first specimen recognised
in Britain was shot by Henry
Doubleday at Walton-on-the-
Naze on Oct. 3rd, 1834, while
the third (?) British specimen
was met with about two years
later on the border of Essex.
It certainly occurs oftener
than is commonly supposed,
but is overlooked on account
of its general resemblance to
the commoner species.
Henry Doubleday, writing to Heysham on Dec. 29th, 1834, says (10) :
" On the 3rd of October, walking with two friends on the top of the cliffs at
Walton-on-the-Naze, I had the pleasure of seeing two individuals of the Grey-
headed Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla neglecta of Gould), one of which (a male) I
fortunately shot, thus proving that this bird occasionally at least, visits this
country. Although, being in its autumnal plumage, the marks are not so well
defined as in spring, yet there can be no doubt of the species. The whole under-
parts are pure yellow, except the chin ; this and the eye-streak are pure white.
The head and back of the neck are light bluish-grey, tinged with brown at the
tips of the feathers. * * * The back, clear olive-green. When I came to London
I took it to Bruton Street [where the museum of the Zoological Society then was]
and there I met with Bennett, Gould, and Yarrell, all of whom at once pro-
nounced it neglecta."
Doubleday briefly recorded his specimen in Loudon's Magazine of Natural
History (12. viii. 617). At his sale in 1871, with five other birds, it fetched 34s.
(? purchaser). Mr. J. D. Hoy records (12. ix. 352) that on May 2nd, 1836, he
shot a specimen following a plough in company with several of the pied species
in the parish of Stoke Nayland, which, though lying actually in Suffolk, adjoins
Essex. Mr. Pettitt has preserved for Dr. Laver a very fine pair netted in com-
pany with several of the common yellow species at Fingringhoe in May, 1889.
The specimen figured by Yarrell was taken near Finsbury in April, 1837, and
was lent for the purpose by Mr. Joseph Clarke.