Volume 24, Plate X / Ornithology (Birds)

Gray Wagtail

Motacilla boarula

The Gray Wagtail enlivens rocky alpine streams in its breeding dress, performing partial migrations, nesting on rock ledges near waterfalls and mills, rearing two broods, and feeding on insects and small aquatic molluscs. Bluish grey above with yellow rump, a white eye streak, and gamboge yellow breast and belly, the summer male gaining a black throat gorget, it is local in southern England but frequent in Scotland and Ireland.