Lot Essay
Gould wrote that there were conflicting opinions and great confusion about the various species of wagtail.
The upper figure in the illustration was a specimen found near Penzance. The two lower figures were a male and female collected by Gould at Dovrefjeld, Norway, on the 4th July 1856.
DISTRIBUTION: Breeds throughout Palaearctic and in northwest Nearctic and winters mainly in Africa, India and the West Indies and northern Australia. There is great variation in this species with many subspecies described, including the two shown in the watercolour, the Grey-headed Motacilla flava cinereocapilla and the Blue-headed M.f. flava which includes the 'Spanish Wagtail'
The upper figure in the illustration was a specimen found near Penzance. The two lower figures were a male and female collected by Gould at Dovrefjeld, Norway, on the 4th July 1856.
DISTRIBUTION: Breeds throughout Palaearctic and in northwest Nearctic and winters mainly in Africa, India and the West Indies and northern Australia. There is great variation in this species with many subspecies described, including the two shown in the watercolour, the Grey-headed Motacilla flava cinereocapilla and the Blue-headed M.f. flava which includes the 'Spanish Wagtail'