472 Birds of Colorado 



it is often placed in and woven round three or more 

 upright twigs, and is made up of stems, rootlets and 

 plant strippings, worked in with a soft cotton-like sub- 

 stance, and lined inside with hairs, fine stems and some- 

 times a few feathers. The eggs, usually four, are white 

 or creamy, speckled and blotched \vith several shades 

 of brown and lilac of varying extent and distribution. 

 They average '63 X "48. 



Family MOTACILLID-S. 



Bill shorter than the head, slender, straight and acute, 

 notched at the tip ; nostrils not concealed ; gape without 

 conspicuous bristles ; primaries nine ; the ninth (outer) 

 and eighth about equal, the seventh to sixth the longest ; 

 inner secondaries greatly lengthened, almost as long as 

 the primaries ; feet slender, tarsus scutellate ; hind toe 

 with a long and almost straight claw. 



Genus ANTHUS. 



Characters as given above under the family. 

 Two species only are found in the United States. 



American Pipit. Anilius rubescens. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 697 — Colorado Records — {Anthns ludovicianus 

 and A. pensilvanicus) — Allen 72, p. 161; Aiken 72, p. 196; Trippe 

 74, p. 231 ; Scott 79, p. 92 ; Minot 80, p. 226 ; Drew 81, p. 88 ; 85, p. 15 ; 

 Allen & Brewster 83, p. 155 ; McGregor 97, p. 39 ; Cooke 97, pp. 18, 

 118 ; Keyser 02, pp. 50, 239 ; Henderson 03, p. 237 ; 09, p. 240 ; Gihnan 

 07, p. 194 ; Warren 08, p. 24 ; Rockwell 08, p. 177. 



Description. — Adult in spring — Above greyish-olive with obscure 

 dusky centres to some of the feathers, especially of the middle of the 

 back ; wings and tail with paler edgings to the feathers, but no very 

 distinct wing-bands ; two outer pairs of tail-feathers with white on the 

 outer web ; stripe above the eye and under-parts pale buffy-white ; 

 the chest and flanks usually, though by no meaixs invariably, streaked 

 with black ; iris brown, bill dusky, palor on the lower mandible ; legs 

 brownish -black. Length of a female 5-20; wing 3-20; tail 2-25; 

 culmen -43 ; tarsvis -80. 



