264 EGGS OF BEITISH BIRDS. 



twitch, and is lined with finer grass and a little horse-hair. Some 

 nests are much more elaborately made than others, and sometimes 

 dry grass forms the whole structure. It is moderately deep and 

 well rounded, and does not differ much in general appearance 

 from the nest of the Meadow Pipit. 



The eggs of the Tree Pipit are from four to six in number, and 

 differ so much that it is almost impossible adequately to describe 

 their variations. The eggs in each clutch are nearly alike, and it 

 is most probable that each bird lays a peculiar type, which it has 

 inherited from its parents and transmits to its offspring. The 

 eggs of this bird may be classified into two groups — one in which 

 the spots are very small and so profusely scattered over the 

 surface as almost entirely to conceal the ground-colour, frequently 

 becoming confluent at the large end ; the other in which the spots 

 are bold blotches and streaks, principally confined to the large 

 end of the egg, leaving the rest of the ground-colour distinctly 

 visible where the spots are smaller and further apart. Each of 

 these two groups may again be sub-divided according to colour, 

 one extreme being pinkish-white and the other pale greenish-blue 

 in ground-colour ; the spots on the former being reddish-brown, 

 and on the latter sometimes olive-brown and sometimes dark 

 reddish-brown. Between these extremes numerous intermediate 

 varieties occur. The eggs vary in length from 09 to 07 inch, 

 and in breadth from 0"65 to 0"58 inch. 



THE MEADOW PIPIT. 

 (Antkus pratensis.) 



Plate 58a, Figs. 9, 10. 



The Meadow Pipit is common throughout the British Islands. 

 It appears to be strictly confined to the western portion of the 

 Palaearctic region from Iceland to the Ural Mountains in the 

 north, and from Marocco to Nubia, Asia Minor and Palestine in 

 the south. 



The nest is always on the ground, and generally well concealed ; 

 it is often placed on a slope amongst rank herbage, sometimes at 

 the foot of a little willow bush, or under a bank, in a similar 

 situation to that often chosen by the Kobin. Sometimes it is 



