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Family MOTACILLID^. 

 Anthus australis. 



AUSTRALIAN PIPIT. 

 Antlius australis, Vig. and Horsf., Trans. Linn. Soc, Vol. XV., p. 229 (1826); Gould, Bds. Austr., 

 fol. Vol. III., pi. 73 (1S48); id., Hand-bk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 392 (18G5) ; Sharpe, Cat. 

 Bds. Brit. Mu.s., Vol. X., p. 61.5 (1885). 

 Adult ukle.— General colour above, includiu</ the head and sides of the neck dark brown, all 

 the feathers having pale fatvn-buf margins; upper ivuig-corerts and secondaries dark brown, with 

 rich buf margins; the primaries dark brown, externaMy edged ivith white; tail feathers blackislir 

 brown, the central pair with broiunish-white margins, the two onlennost on either side white, with 

 blackish-bromi shafts, and broadly margined on their inner webs, except near the tip with dark-broivn; 

 a distinct eye-hroiv buffy-white ; feathers below the eye dull white mottled with brown; ear-coverts, 

 brown; cheeks and throat separated by a blackish-brown malar stripe; remainder of the under surface 

 dull white, the feathers on the fore neck, chest and sides of the body washed with buffy-brown and 

 centrally streaked with blackish-brown, these markings being broader and more distinct on the fore 

 neck and chest ; under tail-coverts dull white, slightly tinged with buff; bill brown, the lotcer mandible, 

 except at the tip, fleshy-brown ; legs yellowish-brotvji, the feet slightly darker ; iris dark brown. Total 

 length in the flesh 7 inches, iving 3-5, tail 2-7, bill OS, tarsus 0-95. 

 Adult fkmale — j'Vt* sexes are alike in plumage. 



Distribution— noith-western Australia, Northern Territory of South Australia, Queensland, 

 New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Central Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania. 

 /-I^HE Australian Pipit, better known as the " Ground Lark," appears to be almost universally 

 J- distributed over the island continent ; it is likewise found in Tasmania. It chiefly 

 frequents grass lands, open plains and cultivation paddocks, and is common everywhere, 

 particularly at the end of summer, after the breeding season is over, when it may be met with 

 in small scattered flocks. Usually one's attention is attracted to it as it passes rapidly over the 

 grassy sward, taking flight for a short distance when too closely approached, and then alighting 

 again, sometimes on the top of a stump or post, but far more often on the ground. On rare 

 occasions I have also seen it perch high up on the lateral dead branches of a gum tree. In 

 Albert Park and Moonee Ponds, near Melbourne, I have often witnessed the upward soaring of 

 this species during the bright and clear days of spring. It rises in a series of short undulating 

 flights, as if mounting an aerial stairway, uttering each time as it ascends a somewhat mournful 

 note resembling that of Lampvococcyx basalis, pausing and dropping a few feet before it agam starts 

 its upward flight. This is repeated until the bird is at an altitude of between two and three 

 hundred feet, when it takes a downward flight for a short distance before descending, like a 

 shooting star in one bold and almost straight flight rapidly to within a few feet of the earth, 

 above which it flies for about fifty yards before finally alighting on the ground again. 



Stomachs of these birds I have e.\amined contained the remains of insects ; those procured 

 in July had also a few small seeds. 



While resident at Point Cloates, North-western Australia, Mr. Tom Carter wrote me as 

 {oWows,:—'' Anthus aiistraUs is to be met with everywhere throughout the year in this district, 

 and even during prolonged droughts, when other species were almost totally absent." 



From Broken Hill, in South-western New South Wales, Dr. W. Macgillivray writes me :— 

 " Authiis australis is often the only bird one sees on the dry sandy plains about here, with 

 occasionally a troop of Australian Dottrels; after rain other birds appear, but Anthus is here 



