142 WATER-PIPIT. 



Austro-Hungarian expedition. On passage it occurs throughout 

 Europe south of the Baltic, down to the Mediterranean and Black 

 Seas. In Russia it breeds in the Ural ]\Iountains up to 64° N. lat, 

 and in the Caucasus ; as it does in the high ranges of Asia Minor, 

 Persia, Baluchistan, Turkestan, and in the Altai. In winter it visits 

 the North of Africa, and Asia to Western India ; being replaced to 

 the eastward by a smaller form, A blakistoui. In Japan the repre- 

 sentative is A. Japoniais, doubtfully distinct from A. pennsylvanicus 

 — also known as A. ludovicimtus — which is found throughout North 

 America and in Greenland ; the latter has also been identified in 

 Heligoland, and is said, but on insufificient evidence, to have 

 occurred in Great Britain. 



The Water-Pipit returns to its breeding-quarters as soon as the 

 elevated regions are sufficiently free from snow ; and quite early in 

 May I observed large numbers in the Valle'e du Lis, above Luchon. 

 The nest, loosely composed of dry grass and plant-stems, lined with 

 a few hairs and feathers, is placed on the ground among stones, or 

 under the shelter of a low bush ; the eggs, usually 5 in number, are 

 greyish-white mottled with brownish-olive : measurements '8 by 

 •6 in. In some localities two broods are reared in the season. The 

 song of the male is an often-repeated ///, tit, tit, uttered in the air 

 or from the top of some bush. The food consists of insects, minute 

 snails, and small seeds. 



The adult male in breeding-plumage has a white stripe over the 

 eye and the greyish-brown ear-coverts ; upper parts greyish-brown, 

 turning to brown on the rump ; wings dark brown with pale edges to 

 the coverts and secondaries ; the exterior pair of tail-feathers white 

 on the outer portion, the second and third pairs brown tipped with 

 white, the remainder brown ; chin w^hite ; throat and breast warm 

 vinaceous-buff ; belly paler, and flanks rather browner, with a few 

 dark streaks; bill, legs and feet brown. Length 6 "5 in.; wing 

 3'6 in. The sexes are alike in plumage. In autumn the vinous 

 tint is lost, and the sides of the neck and breast are spotted with 

 dark brown. The young bird is still more spotted, and the outer 

 webs of the exterior pair of tail-feathers are pale brown. 



The Water-Pipit may always be distinguished from the Rock- 

 Pipit by the distinctly ivhite colour of the outer part of the exterior 

 pair of tail-feathers, and the white tips to the second pair ; and, 

 although in young birds this white is not so pure as has been 

 asserted, it is sufficiently so for the distinction of the species from 

 even the Scandinavian form of the Rock-Pipit, which, in its turn, is 

 much brighter than our resident bird. 



