THE BIRD BOOK 



WAGTAILS. Family MOTACILLID^E 



-♦jass. 



ir;irl Pipit 



Sprague's Pipit 



[694-.] White Wagtail. Motacilla alba. 



Range. — An Old World species; accidental in 

 Greenland. 



These birds are abundant 

 throughout Europe, nesting 

 on the ground, in stone walls, 

 or in the crevices of old 

 buildings, etc., the nests be- 

 ing made of grass, rootlets, 

 leaves, etc.; the eggs are White 



grayish white, finely specked with blackish 

 gray. Size .75 x .55. 



[695-] Swinhoe's Wagtail. Motacilla 

 ocularis. 



Range. — Eastern Asia; accidental in Lower 

 California and probably Alaska. 



( : <;fi. Alaska Yellow Wagtail. Budytes 

 fla c us alascensis. 



Range, 

 mmmer. 



-Eastern Asia; abundant on the Bering Sea coast of Alaska in the 



These handsome Wagtails are common in summer on the coasts 

 and islands of Bering Sea, nesting on the ground under tufts of 

 l grass or beside stones, usually in marshy ground. Their eggs 

 S number from four to six and are white, profusely spotted with 

 various shades of brown and gray. Size .75 x .55. Data. — Kam- 

 chatka, June 20, 1S9C. Nest on the ground; made of fine root- 

 White lets, grass and moss, lined neatly with animal fur. 



697. Pipit. Ant Ims rubescens. 



Range. — North America, breeding in the Arctic regions, and in the Rocky 

 Mountains south to Colorado, winters in southern United States and southward. 



The Titlarks are abundant birds in the United States during 

 migrations, being found in flocks in fields and cultivated 

 gnrand, Their nests, which are placed on the ground in 

 meadows or marshes under tufts of grass, are made of moss 

 and grasses; the four to six eggs are dark grayish, heavily 

 spotted and blotched with brown and blackish. Size .75 x .55. Gray 



[698.] Meadow Pipit. Anihus pratensis. 



Range. — Whole of Europe; accidental in Greenland. 



This species is similar to the American Pipit and like that species nests on 

 the ground; they are very abundant and are found in meadows, woods or thick- 

 ets in the vicinity of houses. Their nests are made chiefly of grasses, lined 

 with hair; the eggs are from four to six in number and are grayish, very heavi- 

 ly spotted and blotched with grayish brown. Size .78 x .58. 



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