THE MEADOW PIPIT 159 



tangled herbage on a bank. The nest is small and 

 very loosely put together, made of dry grass, moss, 

 dead leaves, or bits of reed, and lined with finer 

 grass, roots and horse-hair. The eggs are from 

 four to six in number, white in ground-colour (al- 

 though this is generally concealed for the most part 

 by the markings), clouded and spotted and sprinkled 

 with dark brown, and sometimes streaked with 

 blackish-brown here and there on the large end. 

 The bird is a close sitter, usually remaining on the 

 nest until almost trodden upon. The young are 

 fed and tended for some time by their parents after 

 leaving the nest. The Cuckoo makes frequent use 

 of the Meadow Pipit in disposing of its eggs, and 

 the latter birds may often be seen in moorland 

 districts feeding a young Cuckoo with the greatest 

 industry. As a rule this Pipit rears but one brood 

 in the season, but occasionally seems to undertake 

 a second. 



The food of the Meadow Pipit is chiefly composed 

 of small worms, insects and larvae. The bird is 

 specially fond of the smaller aquatic insects and 

 molluscs, and frequently pursues flies in the air. 

 In the colder months small seeds and even grain 

 will be eaten. 



The Meadow Pipit has the general colour of the 

 upper parts olive-brown, the feathers with dark 

 centres, except on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; 

 the eye-stripe is buffish-white ; the wings are brown, 



