in natural history, a new genus of birds, belonging to the order of passerines, formed by Dr. Latham by limiting the motacilla to the wagtail, and arranging the other species, formerly classified under that genus, under the sylvia.

The motacilla he thus describes: The beak is subulated, slender, and somewhat indented at the point. The tongue seems torn at the end, and the tail is long. He thus characterizes the sylvia: The beak is subulated, straight, and small; the mandibles are nearly equal. The nostrils are obvate, and a little depressed. The exterior toe is joined at the under part to the base of the middle one. The tongue is cloven, and the tail is small. He makes 13 species of the motacilla, and 174 species of the sylvia. See Motacilla.