THE AMERICAN PIPIT. 221 



for she flushes at long distances. Either siie will slip off quietly and sneak at 

 thirty yards, or else flush straight at a hundred. When the nest is discovered 

 she is quite as likely to ignore the intruder, and seldom ventures near enough 

 to betray ownership. On the other hand, given patience and a pair of strong 

 binoculars, "tracking" is not a difficult accomplishment. 



No. 90. 



AMERICAN PIPIT. 



A. O. U. No. 697. Anthus rubescens (Tunstall). 



Synonyms. — Amkric^n Titl.ark. Brown Lark. Louisi.'>iNA Pipit. 



Description. — Adult in spring: Above soft and dark grayish brown with 

 an olive shade ; feathers of crown and back with darker centers ; wings and tail 

 dusky with paler edging, the pale tips of coverts forming two indistinct bars ; 

 outer pair of tail-'cathers extensively white; next pair white-tipped; superciliary 

 line, eye-ring and underparts light grayish brown or buffy, the latter streaked 

 with dusky except on middle of throat and lower belly,-- heavily on sides of 

 throat and across breast, narrowly on lower breast and sides. Winter plumage: 

 Above, browner ; below, duller buffy ; more broadly streaked on breast. Length 

 6.00-7.00 (152.4-177.8) ; wing 3.37 (85.6): tail 2.53 (64.3): bill .46 (11.7); 

 tarsus .90 (22.9). 



Recognition Marks. — Sparrow size ; brown above ; buffy or brownish with 

 dusky spots below ; best known by flip-yip notes repeated when rising from 

 ground or flying overhead. 



Nesting. — Nest: at high altitudes, a thick-walled structure of grasses and 

 moss set into deep excavation in sloping hillside or in cranny of cliff. Eggs: 

 4-6, usually 5, so heavily speckled and spotted with reddish or dark brown as 

 almost entirely to obscure the whitish ground color. Often, except upon close 

 examination, the effect is of a uniform chocolate-colored egg. Av. size .jj x .57 

 (19.6 X 14.5). Season: June 15-July 25; one brood. 



General Range. — North America at large, breeding in the higher parts of 

 the Rocky and Cascade Mountains and in sub-Arctic regions ; wintering in the 

 Gulf States, Mexico, and Central America. Accidental in Europe. 



Range in Washington. — Abundant during migrations; common summer 

 resident in Cascade Mountains above timber-line; winters sparinglv west of 

 mountains. 



Migrations. — Nomadic; retires from mountains early in September; moves 

 southward across State Oct. 15-Dec. 15; northward April i-May 15. 



Authorities. — ? Townsend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci., Phila., VHI., 1839, 154 

 (Columbia River). Anthus iiidovicianus. Licht. Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. 

 IX. pt. II., 1858, p. 233. T. C&S. L'. Rh. D'. Sr. Ra. D^ J. B. E. 



Specimens.— U. of W. P'. Prov. B. E. 



THE American Pipit does not sustain the habitual dignity of the boreal 

 breed. He is no clown, indeed, like our Chat, nor does he quite belong to the 



