ANTHUS. PIPIT. 



179 



The general form is slender, the body ovate, the neck rather 

 short, the head small, narrow, ovato-oblong. The feet are 

 rather long, and slender ; the tarsus much compressed, ante- 

 riorly covered with eight scutella, acute behind. Toes longish, 

 slender, compressed ; the first large, narrow beneath ; the 

 second and fourth about equal, the third much longer, united 

 to the fourth as far as the second joint. Claws long, slightly 

 arched, extremely compressed, tapering to a fine point, laterally 

 grooved, that of the hind toe much elongated. 



Plumage soft, on the upper parts the feathers rather distinct, 

 on the lower blended ; the feathers generally ovate, of loose 

 texture, with a long slender plumule. Wings rather long, of 

 eighteen quills, of which nine are primary, the first four nearly 

 equal and longest ; the secondaries very long, one of them 

 nearly as long as the outer primaries when the wing is closed ; 

 the inner primaries and outer secondaries emarginate. Tail 

 rather long, straight, emarginate, of twelve feathers. 



The Pipits are very intimately allied to the Larks, Alauda, 

 on the one hand, and to the Wagtails, ISIotacilla, on the other. 

 Although much more slender than the former, their affinity to 

 them, both in form and colouring, is so great that by the older 

 ornithologists they were included in the same genus. On com- 

 paring a Lark and a Pipit, it will be seen that the bill is formed 

 on the same plan, that the feet agree in presenting the very 

 elongated hind claw, and that the wings are of the same form, 

 one of the inner secondaries being much lengthened and ta- 

 pering. Compared with a Wagtail, a Pipit presents similar 

 analogies ; its bill is almost precisely similar, its wings are of 

 the same form, its feet differ very little, but its tail, although 



