AMERICAN PIPIT 31 



the roofs of tilts, where codfish was drying, or alighting on the roofs 

 of the fish houses and even on the roofs of the dwelling houses and on 

 the rooks around them. On migrations, we often see them perched in 

 trees, on wire fences or fence posts, on the ridge poles of houses, and 

 on telephone or telegraph wires. Dr. Knowlton writes to me that, 

 in the locality where he collected the birds referred to above, "thou- 

 sands of pipits were present over an area 6 to 15 miles wide. The 

 birds would fly ahead of the car, aligliting on fence posts and fence 

 wires near the approaching vehicle. However, when disturbed by a 

 man walking along the road, large numbers would sometimes fly 

 away and alight in the field at some distance from the collector. They 

 seldom were much disturbed by the firing of a .22 rifle or a small 

 44x1 bird gun." 



When on the ground the pipit walks gracefully and prettily, with 

 a nodding motion of the head, like a dove, and with the body swaying 

 slightly from side to side as he moves quietly along; sometimes he 

 runs more rapidly. His colors, soft grays and browns, match his sur- 

 roundings so well, and he moves so quietly with an easy gliding mo- 

 tion, that before we realize that he is there he rises with a large flock 

 of his fellows, as if exploding from nowhere, and they go flying off 

 to some safer spot, twittering as they fly. 



Francis H. Allen contributes the following note: "At one time I 

 found the grass fairly 'swarming' with them at a fence corner, and 

 one might have gone within two or three rods without seeing them, 

 so closely did they creep along the ground. Here one of them stood 

 on a large stone, spread his tail prettily, and scratched his right ear 

 deftly with his right foot. The books seem to say that when on the 

 ground they wag their tails constantly, but this is not literally true, 

 for the tail is sometimes quiet as the bird walks, and extended straight 

 behind, the whole slender bird presenting a peculiarly flat appear- 

 ance as he steps daintily along. I thought that the tail was more 

 constantly wagged when the bird was standing than when he walked." 



Observers differ as to the amount of tail wagging and when it oc- 

 curs, but the pipit belongs to the wagtail family and must indulge in 

 a certain amount of it. Audubon (1841) stated that the pipit wags 

 its tail when it stops walking; Forbush (1929) says "almost con- 

 stantly moving the tail" ; and others have referred to it as a constant 

 habit. Probably there is some individual variation in the habit 

 between different birds, or at different times in the same individual. 

 Milton P. Skinner (1928) watched particularly for this habit in North 

 Carolina and found that it was not a constant one. He noted that 

 "their bodies and tails swung from side to side in time with each 

 step," and says : 



In every case this sidewise movement of the tail was an accompaniment of 

 the body movement, and I did not see a single Pipit move its tail sidexmse inde- 



