222 THE AMERICAN PIPIT. 



awkward squad with young Blackbirds; a trim form and a natty suit often 

 save him from well merited derision, but all close observers will agree that 

 there is a screw loose in his make-up somewhere. The whole Pipit race 

 seems to be struggling under a strange inhibitory spell, cast upon some an- 

 cestor, perliaps, by one knows not what art of nodding heather bells or po- 

 tency of subtly distilled Arctic moonshine. .\s the flock comes straggling 

 down from the northland they utter unceasing yips uf mild astonishment and 

 self-reproach at their apparent inability to decide what to do next. Their in- 

 decision is especially exasperating as one rides along a trail which is closely 

 flanked by a primitive rail fence, as I have often done in Okanogan County. 

 One starts up ahead of you and thinks he will settle on the top rail and watch 

 you go by. As his feet near the rail he decides he won't, after all, but that 

 he will go a few feet farther before alighting. If he actually does alight 

 he instantly tumbles oft with a startled yip. as th(j the rail were hot and he 

 had burnt his toes. Then he tries a post with no better success, until you get 

 disgusted with such silly vacillation and inane yipping, and clap spurs to your 

 horse, resolved to escape the anno}-ance (if having to follow such dubious 

 fortunes. 



In social flight the Pipits straggle out far apart, so as to allow plenty of 

 room for their chronic St. A'itus's tlance to jerk them hither or thither or up 

 or down, witliout clashing with their fellows. Only a small percentage of 

 those which annually traverse the State fly low enough to be readily seen ; 

 but when they do they are jolting along over the landscape and complaining 

 at every other step. The note is best rendered flip-yip. less accurately pip-it 

 (whence of course the name) ; and a shower of these iietulant sounds comes 

 spattering down out of the sky when the birds themselves are nearly or c|uite 

 invisible. 



The fall migrations of this species appear to have a compound character. 

 Birds which make their appearance early in September are likely to quarter 

 themselves in a gi\'en localitx" for several weeks at a time, tho wlielher these 

 represent the first refugees from the high North, or mark the practical retreat 

 of our own mountaineers, we cannot tell. Late comers pass thru more rapidl\-, 

 and the main host clears l)y late October, but stragglers may be found in any 

 open lowland situation until late November. They are es]iecially partial to 

 prairies, close-cropped pastures, the graxelly shores and bars of rivers, lakes 

 and ponds, and the shingle of sea-beaches. At Semialimoo the great ricks of 

 barnacle-covered piles, which are annually corded on shore at the close of the 

 fishing season, are regarded in the light of a Pipit hotel. The birds not only 

 shelter among the timbers, but, after the fashion of Sandpipers, glean busily 

 from their surfaces where the marine crealures. thru ex]iosure to the air, are 

 dving a fragrant death. 



The return nio\'ement of spring sets in earlv, and the main flight is more 



