46 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



is cup-shaped, and composed entirely of dry grass, the 

 coarser pieces being used outside and the fine bents for 

 the Hning. Of the actions of this Pipit at the nest I 

 find nothing particular recorded. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Red-throated Pipit are from four to 

 six in number, and it is interesting to remark that they 

 frequently resemble in their colouration the eggs of the 

 Lapland Bunting, which nests on similar ground. They 

 vary in ground colour from buffish-white to very pale 

 greenish-blue — almost the colour of skimmed milk, 

 spotted and blotched with olive-brown and reddish- 

 brown of various shades, and with underlying markings 

 of paler brown and gray. Two very distinct types 

 occur. On one most of the markings are large and 

 washy, with a i^\N darker specks, but the ground colour 

 is well exposed. On the other the markings are small 

 and uniformly distributed over the entire surface, so that 

 the pale ground is almost entirely concealed. We might 

 even add a third type, in which the markings are very 

 streaky, interspersed with a few spots. Average mea- 

 surement, 77 inch in length by '58 inch in breadth. 

 Incubation is performed by the female, but the duration 

 of the period is unknown. 



Diagnostic characters : There is no reliable 

 character by which the eggs of this Pipit may be dis- 

 tinguished from those of the Tree Pipit and those of the 

 Lapland Bunting, but the Tree Pipit does not breed in 

 the Red-throated Pipit's area, and the Lapland Bunting 

 always lines its nest with feathers. 



