200 ANTHUS RICHARDI. 



outer feather dull white, with its shaft of the same colour ; the 

 next also white, with its shaft brown, and both have a patch 

 of brown on the inner web, of less extent on the outer feather. 

 A whitish streak passes over the eye, and the ear-coverts, 

 which are light brown ; a line of small dusky spots proceeds 

 downward from the base of the bill ; the lower parts are dull 

 white ; the sides of the neck, its lower anterior part, and a 

 portion of the breast and sides tinged with reddish-brown, and 

 marked with oblong dark-brown spots ; the lower tail-coverts 

 also tinged with red. 



Length to end of tail 6f inches ; wing from flexure Sf. 



Female. — The female is similar to the male, but has the 

 lower parts less tinged with red. 



Habits. — This species is represented as being of very rare 

 occurrence on the continent, unless in the southern parts. It 

 was first made known as a British bird by the justly celebrated 

 ornithologist Mr Vigors, who described and figured a young 

 individual taken alive in a net, in the fields, north of London, 

 in October 1812. According to Mr Gould, two individuals 

 were caught near London, in the spring of 1836. Mr Rennie 

 mentions one taken near Oxford, and Mr Yarrell states that 

 Mr Proctor shot another near Howick, on the coast of Nor- 

 thumberland, on the 13th of February 1832. It is said to be 

 entirely terrestrial in its habits, to run with great celerity, 

 move its tail upw^ards and downwards, like the Wagtails, feed 

 on insects of various kinds, and emit a loud note while flying. 

 The eggs are white, marked with numerous small irrregular 

 reddish spots. This is a meagre account of the habits of a bird, 

 but such statements, worth little or nothing, seem to satisfy our 

 " best ornithologists." 



Remarks. — The elongated hind claw of this bird assimilates 

 it closely to the Larks, and with some other circumstances has 

 induced Mr Vigors to place it in a genus apart from the Pipits, 

 to which he has given the name of Corydalla. The length of 

 its legs,-as he remarks, seems to correspond with Dr Horsfield's 



