stray out of its course and visit the British Islands. This
sojourn, its habits being peculiar, and the situa-
open sterile districts, and such hot

r should not occasionally
but ill adapted for a lengthened ae
ions 1 ‘ts not being numerous in our humid climate; tor it is in )
He A aliie : occur in many parts of France, Spain, and nee aa Me ie He a one
home, just as the Meadow-Pipit does in the soft boggy parts of our aye ae py I ca e da ‘
of the two species, and how instructive is a knowledge of oe ! This di eres : a ne . or Albee

i Ir - one being dressed in dust-coloured feathers of a hue very similar to
very opposite styles of their colouring, on g

that of the sand over which it runs, the other in an olive-green costume, assimilating in tint to the grassy
Cc C

herbage of the moorlands, the swamps, and the hillsides it frequents. : a
‘ C q , ie 2 Pye «
The Tawny Pipit, which is more commonly known by the name of Anthus rufescens than by that of

s, fi i it, 1s stri : - visitant to most parts of the European continent
A. campest7 rs, first assigned to 1t, 1S strictly a summer visitan | | :

particularly France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. |
and is equally abundant in Palestine, Persia, Scinde, and the peninsula of

the months of summe

country, however, seems

It proceeds as far north as Southern Sweden, is much

more numerous in North Africa, ! nin

oo : : a ee

India, where Mr. Jerdon states it is found in all suitable places, and adds, “‘I have noticed that it is most
; > Mr. Je

abundant in the Deccan, at Mhow in Central India, and on the Eastern Ghauts ; it is rare in the Carnatic.
Blyth has it from Midnapore and the north-western provinces. It frequents barren, open, stony land, and
is never found in rich pastures or meadows.” ee

Bailly states that in Savoy it isa bird of passage, and is never very common ; : it ae in April ane returns
again during the first fortnight of October. In spring it generally appears singly, in couples, or in threes,
and in autumn in small flocks of from three to five. A few remain and breed among small stony hillocks
thinly clothed with shrubs and heath, the nest being constructed early in May, at the foot of a small shrub,
a tuft of grass, or other plants ; it is composed of small pieces of moss, dried grasses, and roots, lined with
wool, horsehair, and vegetable fibres ; the eggs are five or six in number, white, or bluish white, sprinkled
with small spots, streaks, and dashes of brown, violet, and brownish red. During the period of incubation
the male diligently feeds the female, and continues to solace her with his song, consisting of one or two
notes repeated fifteen or twenty times in succession while obliquely ascending to a moderate height and
dropping again almost vertically to the ground; these notes are less frequently heard after the young are
hatched, and by the middle of July cease entirely. About the end of August or the beginning of September
the Tawny Pipit resorts to the plains and the ploughed lands, retiring during the middle or hotter part of
the day to the shelter of the hills. Its food consists of maggots, small worms, millepedes, small spiders,
and grasshoppers, flies and other insects caught while flying, and small snails seized from the stalks of
grasses. It evinces but little fear of man, and on being disturbed merely runs with great swiftness to a
short distance, and then stops as if to ascertain the cause of its fear. When a small number travel in com-
pany, they frequently call to each other; by imitating this call our bird-catchers easily entice them into
their traps.”

M. Dubois, in his work on the Birds of Belgium, informs us that the Tawny Pipit evinces a ‘‘ preference
for extensive dry plains, where but few trees or plants occur, and shuns high grass and bushes. It is
almost always on the ground, sometimes perched upon a hillock or stone, or a bush, but is rarely found
on trees. Is very lively, but shy or coy in its movements. The singular song of the male is composed of
a series of short, uniform, and melancholy notes which it utters while flying. The nest is placed in slight
hollows of the ground, sheltered by a bush. The young quit the nest before they can fly ; for they can
always run sufficiently well to hide themselves in the grass, corn, or brushwood.”

Degland states that it sometimes constructs its nest in the crevices of rocks, that it runs both quickly and
gracefully, that it rarely perches on trees, and that its cry is very like that of the Short-toed Lark.

my ° .
Phe Rev. Mr. Tristr ; -, Bree th: nO eee © .
stram informed Dr. Bree that the egg of this bird is very variable, though not so much
so as that of Anthus arboreus.

Some of his specimens approach those of the Pied Wagtail ; in others the
russet spots are as large, thick, < fl as I aw i i cee
i S| ; e : ge, thick, and bright as in Sylvia yalactodes, which ege this variety greatly resembles.
uring the breeding-season the feather » r surface of i : i

P ae ae ie oo a — - a upper surface of the male are light brown in the centre,
SO largely Margied with greyish buff that arker tint is ittle per :

ie ee: ee y at the darker tint is but little perceptible, and the whole presents a
mealy appearance ; wings dark brown, all the feathers except the
yufl, with a reddish tinge on those bordering the cov
with greyish buff; two centre

primaries broadly margined with bright

erts and secondaries ; primaries brown, narrowly edged
tail-feathers dark brown, bordered with

yuffy white, with a broad stripe of dark brown dow

ine of the same hue on the outer web tow

greyish buff; two outer tail-feathers
n the margin of the inner web, and a narrow interrupted
ards t¢ ip: Re ryrane O :

Eyelalstreak of buffy whit ards the tip; the remaining tail-feathers dark brown; over the

, adi, ] 7 ° are tartc eles = id

aes a ; ; ite ; ear-coverts dark brown ; a small moustache-like streak of brown on each side

neath the eye; a PaRUItAGe Vora :

eae ; : a ae pe very pale buff, washed with a deeper tint across the breast and down

> Hanks ; a tew faint streaks of brown on the sj a”
; é he sides of the neck and hre: . .

blackish brown, lower mandible yellows : < and breast; irides brown ; upper mandible

, andible yellowish ; tarsi and feet flesh-colour

Vhe figures are of the natural size. The beetle is the Cicindel,
> IS JACi 3G

 

ampestris.