Gould commented that this species had been given the very inappropriate name of anglica, - yet in fifty years it had only been seen in England about twenty times, whereas it was common in other parts of Europe, Africa and America.

The illustration shows the male with the jet black head in summer plumage, and the young bird in juvenile plumage about a month or five weeks old.

DISTRIBUTION: Breeds from Denmark, southern France and Iberia discontinuously eastwards to eastern Kazakhstan and south to northwest Africa, Pakistan and India, southeast China and Australia; also North, Central and South America. European populations winter in Africa south of the Sahara. Regular but relatively rare vagrant to Britain, mainly between late April and mid-September