irOTA<^ILLTD.E — THE WAGTAILS. 



173 



off to a short di.staiiue, with liiu(l rries of (hstress tliat soon lii-ing the mate 

 and other pairs of the same species to join in tlie himentations. Tliev hover 

 over the heads of the intruders, at times apjiroaching witliin a few feet, ex- 

 pressing their distress by the most i)Lunti\e cries, and even when the in- 

 truders withdraw foUowing them to a considerable distance. 



All the nests of this lark that I have seen are remarkable for tiie thickness 

 of their walls, and the strength, compactness, and elaborate care with which 

 the materials are put together, particularly for nests built on the ground. 

 They are well suited to protect their contents from the cold, damp ground 

 on which they are placed ; and their upper portions are composed of stout 

 vegetable stems, lichens, and grasses strongly interwoven, and forming a 

 strong rim around the upper part of the nest. 



I)r. Cones describes their eggs as of a dark chocolate-color, indistinctly 

 marked with numerous small lines and streaks of black. Audulion describes 

 them as having a gTound-color of a deep reddish-chestnut, darkened by nu- 

 merous dots of deejjer reddish-brown and lines of \arious sizes, especially 

 toward the larger end. Those in my possession, received from Labrador by 

 Thienemaun, measure from .75 to .78 of an inch in length, and from .59 

 to .62 in breadth, and have a light-brown or clay-colored ground, so thickly 

 covered with spots as to be almost concealed. These spots are of a purplish 

 chocolate-brown, with occasional darker lines about the larger end. In 

 others the markings are bolder and larger and of lirighter hues. Like the 

 eggs of the An thus arhoreus of Europe, it is probable that those of this 

 Titlark exhibit great variations, both in ground-color and in the shades of 

 their markings. 



Anthus pratensis, r.KciisT. 



EUROPEAN PIPIT. 



Alauda jrratemis, LiNX. Syst. N;it. 1706, 287. J nthu3 pratensis, Bechst. Dcutsdi. Vogcl, 

 III, 1807, 732. —Keys. & Blas. "Wiiii. Euroiuis, 1S40, 172. — Z.vN-DEit, Cab. Jour. I, 

 extraheft, 1853, 60. — P.\ULSEX, ed. HuLboll, Faun. Gronlaiids, 1846, 24. — Kein- 

 n.\E!DT, Ibis, 1861, 6. — Xewton, B.viaXG-GuuLD's KelauJ, 1S63. — B.\n;D, Eev. 

 Am. B. 1864, 1.5.5. 



Figures : Gould's Birds Euroiit-, jil. oxxxvi. 



Had. Europe generally ; common in Lapland ; accidental in Greenland ; St. Micliael's, 

 Norton Sound. 



This species in general form resend)les the A. ludovicianii.f;, the fifth 

 primary in both being abruptly and considerably shorter than the outer four ; 

 the bill and legs quite similar. The a\'erage size appears mucli tlie same. 

 The upper parts are, however (especially the head and back), more distinctly 

 streaked witli dusky; the edge and inside of wing greenisli-yellow, not 

 wliite, and the upper plumage and outer edges of the quills decidedly olive- 

 green. The shafts of the middle tail-feathers above are whitisli, not dark 



