40 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



hair, and, it is said, with wool or even feathers — which 

 seems to show an adaptation to the low and probably 

 varying temperature of the bird's haunts. When flushed 

 from the nest this Pipit often betrays anxiety by flitting 

 restlessly about and uttering its plaintive call-note. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Alpine Pipit are four or five in number, 

 generally the latter. They vary in ground colour from 

 bluish or greenish-white to creamy-white, mottled, 

 freckled, and spotted with olive or purplish-brown, and 

 with underlying markings of gray, and occasionally 

 streaked with very dark brown. As is usual with the 

 eggs of Pipits, we find several well-marked types, the 

 most pronounced being olive, brown, and reddish-purple. 

 As a rule the markings are small, and conceal most of 

 the ground colour, whilst zones or caps often occur. 

 Average measurement, '85 inch in length by '63 inch in 

 breadth. Incubation, performed chiefly by the female, 

 lasts thirteen or fourteen days. 



Diagnostic characters : It is impossible to give 

 any character by which the eggs of the Alpine Pipit can 

 be distinguished from those of the Rock Pipit, but the 

 locahty is quite sufficient to identify them. 



