WAGTAILS AND PIPITS 



171 



SPRAGUE'S PIPIT 

 Anthus spraguei {Aiiiliibon) 



A (1 V. Xumlicr roo 



Other Names. — Missouri Skylark ; Prairie Skylark. 



General Descriprion. — Length. (i'4 iiiclies. Upper 

 parts, grayish-ijrown. streaked with clusk\' : under 

 parts, buffy-white. streaked with black. 



Color. — Adults in Spring: .'Kbove. pale huffy gray- 

 ish-brown broadly streaked with dusky, the streaks 

 broadest on back, narrowest on hindneck : wings and 

 tail, dusky with pale buffy grayish-brown edgings, the 

 middle and greater wing-coverts margined terminally 

 with the same, the outermost primary edged with white; 

 outermost tail-feathers, 'white, with basal half, or more. 

 of inner portion of inner web dusky -grayish ; next tail- 

 feather with approximately the outer half white, the 

 inner half grayish-dusky; sides of head, including a 

 stripe over the eyes, and the lores, and the entire under 

 parts, dull buffy-white. becoming brownish-buffy on 

 chest, sides, and flanks, the chest narrowly streaked 

 with blackish, the sides of breast more broadly but less 



distinctly streaked with grayish-brown ; under wing- 

 coverts, white; bill. dusky-l)rown or brownish-black; 

 iris, brown ; legs and feet, pale huffy-brown. .Adults 

 ix Autumn .-xnd Winter: Similar to the spring plum- 

 age, but more pronounced buffy. both above and below ; 

 lower throat, chest, breast, sides, and flanks, rather 

 deep dull buff, with dusky streaks on chest rather 

 broader and less sharply defined than in spring. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: Like that of the American 

 Pipit. Egi.s: 4 or 5. pale purplish-huffy or buffy-white, 

 thickly spotted with purplish-brown. 



Distribution. — Interior plains of North .America; 

 breeding from eastern Montana and northern North 

 Dakota to -\ssiniboia and the Saskatchewan district of 

 Manitoba ; in winter southward to Texas and southern 

 Louisiana, and through eastern Mexico to \'era Cruz 

 and Puebla ; occasional in winter on coast of South 

 Carolina. 



It does not seem very polite to call a family 

 of birds Wagtails just because tliey have the 

 habit of jerking their tails as they go about. 

 But that is the name they go by in the books, 

 and we have two of them in the United States. 

 We call them Pij.iits or Titlarks. 



The best known is Sprague's Pipit, called the 

 Missouri Skylark, or sometimes the Prairie Sky- 

 lark. This bird gets the name of .Skylark be- 

 cause he sings while soaring about in the air 

 far over our heads. 



The Pipits live on the ground, ami walk and 

 rtin, not hop. As they go, they bob their heads. 

 and jerk their tails. They are a little larger 

 than an English Sparrow, and they go in flocks. 

 They are never seen in the woods, but in open 

 pastures or plains, or beside a road. 



Sprague's Pipit is all in streaks of brown 

 and gray, and lighter below. He ha> a large 

 foot, which shows that he lives on the ground, 

 and a very long claw on the hind toe. 



The nest of the Pipit is made by hollowing out 

 a little place in the ground and lining it with 

 fine grasses. Though on the ground it is one 

 of the hardest to find, because it is lightly covered 

 with the dry grasses, and when the bird is sitting, 

 she matches the grasses so well that one can 

 hardly see her, even when looking right at her. 



The birds eat insects and weed seeds, and .go 

 about in flocks. Even then they are hard to see. 

 because when they are startled they do not flutter 

 or fly, but crouch or squat at once, and stay 

 [jerfectly still. 



This bird is noted, as I said, for his song. 

 It is said to be as fine as that of the English 

 Skylark of which we hear so much. Perhaps 

 his way of singing makes it still more interesting. 

 He starts up on wing, flies a little one way, then 

 the other, all the titiie .going higher and higher. 

 So he climbs on up. up, up, in a zigzag way. till 

 he is fairly out of sight, all the titne giving a 

 wonderftilly sweet song. It is not very loud, 

 but of such a kind that it is heard when the 

 bird is far out of sight. When he can no longer 

 be seen, one may still follow him with a good 

 field-glass. He will sing without stopping for 

 fifteen or twenty minutes. 



Then suddenly he stops, closes his wings, and 

 c(jmes 'head first toward the ground. It seems 

 as if he would dash his brains out against the 

 earth, but just before he touches he opens his 

 wings and alights like a feather, almost where 

 he started from. He should be as famous as 

 the English bird, and will be no doubt, when he 

 is better known. 



Olive Thor.xe .Miller. 



