110 



BBITISH BIBDS 



that of the tree-pipit. This is true enough, so far as it goes, but it does 

 not take into account the different scenes in the midst of which 

 the two distinct sounds are heard. The song of a single meadow- 

 pipit, heard close at hand, is a sHght performance — an attenuated 

 and not very dulcet sound. The effect is wholly different and most 

 dehghtful when a dozen or twenty birds are within hearing, singing 

 at intervals at a distance, on a perfectly calm day on the moors or 

 downs. As the little widely-scattered, unseen melodists rise and 

 fall, the sounds they emit are refined to something bell-like and deU- 

 cate : the effect is unique and indescribably charming and fairy-like. 

 The nest is a neat structure, usually placed in a small cavity in the 

 ground, under a bunch of grass or heather, and is made of dry 

 bents, and lined with fine grass, fibrous roots, and hair. Four to 

 six eggs are laid ; these vary greatly in colour and markings, but 

 the most common form is white, thickly mottled over with greyish 

 brown. When the nest is approached the parent birds display 

 great solicitude, flying from place to place, and incessantly uttering 

 a sharp but plaintive chirp of alarm. 



Tree-Pipit. 



Anthus trivialis. 



FiQ 40. — Tkee-Pipit. ^ natural size. 



Upper parts ash 

 tinged with olive, the 

 centre of each feather dark 

 brown ; a double band 

 across the wing, formed by 

 the yellowish white tips of 

 the lesser and middle 

 wing-coverts ; the outer 

 pair of tail feathers white ; 

 throat and region of the 

 eye dull white ; breast 

 buff, with elongated spots 

 of dark brown ; belly and 

 lower tail-coverts dull 

 white. Length, six inches. 



Of the three species of 

 Anthus inhabiting the 



