Professor Ansted includes it in his list, and marks it as occurring in Guernsey and Sark.

54.  YELLOW WAGTAIL. Motacilla raii, Bonaparte.  French, “Bergeronnette flaveole.”—­As far as I have been able to judge the Yellow Wagtail is only an occasional visitant on migration.  A few, however, may sometimes remain to breed.  I have one Channel Island specimen killed in Guernsey the last week in March.  Mr. MacCulloch, however, writes me word that in some years they—­i.e., Yellow Wagtails—­are not very uncommon, but of late, for some reason or other, Wagtails of all sorts have become rare.  He adds—­“I am under the impression that we have more than one Yellow Wagtail.”  It is, therefore, possible that the Greyheaded Wagtail, the true Motacilla flava of Linnaeus, may occasionally occur, or in consequence of the bright yellow of portions of its plumage the last-mentioned species—­the Grey Wagtail—­may have been mistaken for a second species of Yellow Wagtail.  I have not myself seen the Yellow Wagtail in either of the Islands during my summer visits in 1866, 1876, or 1878; so it certainly cannot be very common during the breeding-season, or I could scarcely have missed seeing it.

Professor Ansted has not included it in his list, and there is no specimen at present in the Museum.

55.  TREE PIPIT. Anthus trivialis, Linnaeus.  French, “Pipit des arbres,” “Pipit des buissons.”—­A very numerous summer visitant to all the Islands, breeding in great numbers in the parts suited to it.  In the Vale it was very common, many of the furze-bushes on L’Ancresse Common containing nests.  The old male might constantly be seen flying up from the highest twigs of the furze-bush, singing its short song as it hovered over the bush, and returning again to the top branch of that or some neighbouring bush.  This continued till about the middle of July, when the young were mostly hatched, and many of them flown and following their parents about clamorous for food, which was plentiful in the Vale in the shape of numerous small beetles, caterpillars, and very small snails.  The young were mostly hatched by the beginning of July, but I found one nest with young still in it in a furze-bush about ten yards from high water-mark as late as the 27th of July, but the young were all flown when I visited the nest two days afterwards.  The Tree Pipits have all departed by the middle of October, and I have never seen any there in November.

The Tree Pipit is mentioned in Professor Ansted’s list, but no letters marking the distribution of the species amongst the Islands are given.  There is no specimen of this or either of the other Pipits in the Museum.

56.  MEADOW PIPIT. Anthus pratensis, Linnaeus.  French, “Le cujelier,” “Pipit des pres,” “Pipit Farlouse.”—­The Meadow Pipit is resident and breeds in all the Islands, but is by no means so numerous as the Tree Pipit is during the summer.  I think, however, its numbers are slightly increased in the autumn, about the time of the departure of the Tree Pipits, by migrants.