32 BULLETIN 197, UNITED STATES NATIONAL IVIUSEUM 



pendently of the body. But I found there was another movement of the tail, 

 vp and down, that was sometimes made. Of one hundred and forty birds 

 watched on January 28, 1927, some tipped their tails up and dotcn rapidly while 

 walking and while resting on the ground but many of them did not. Ten days 

 later, I noted that only a few of these pipits moved their tails up and down, 

 and that even these movements were noticeable only when the birds alighted 

 after flight, and then there were only two to five movements. On March 1, 1927, 

 I observed that when these birds stopped tcalJcing they moved their tails more 

 or less regularly, but the motion was not noticeable tchile they walked, and 

 disappeared altogether when they ran. 



The pipit's flight is buoyant and undulating, powerful and swift, 

 but rather erratic, as if the bird were undecided where to go or to stop. 

 A large flock of pipits in flight is an interesting sight ; they rise sud- 

 denly and unexpectedly from almost underfoot, those nearest first 

 and then rank after rank progressively, as if bursting out of the earth ; 

 all join into one big flock before our astonished eyes and go sweeping 

 off in a loose, undulating bunch, some rising and some falling in a 

 confusing mass, like so many swirling snowflakes. They swing in a 

 wide circle over the field and back again, swoop downward as if about 

 to alight, then off again as if undecided, and finally drop out of sight 

 on the brown earth in the distance, or perhaps return again and settle 

 near the spot from which they started. 



Dr. Witmer Stone (1937) thus describes the actions of a large flock 

 of pipits on a burnt-over area : 



After circling in a large arc they came drifting back and settled down near 

 where they were before. Several times later they flushed but always returned 

 to the burnt area. By watching exactly where they alighted I was able to detect 

 them scattered all over the ground, about one bird to each square foot, where 

 thickest. Their backs had a distinct olive cast in the strong light but the streaks 

 on the under parts were only seen clearly when the birds were breast on. They 

 all walked deliberately or sometimes took half a dozen steps in rapid succession, 

 almost a run, though less regular. They all moved in the same general direction 

 and as I moved parallel with them I could see them pressing straight ahead 

 through the grassy spots and betvreen the grass tufts and the stems of the bushes 

 that had escaped the fire. They kept their heads pretty well down on the shoul- 

 ders and leaned forward, dabbing at the ground with the bill, to one side or 

 the other, apparently picking up scattered seeds of grasses and sedges. The 

 tail was carried parallel with the ground or tilted up a trifle while the tips of 

 the wings hung just below its base. The tail moved a little as the bird advanced 

 but there was no distinct tilting as in the Palm Warbler or the Water-Thrush. 



Voice. — The American pipit is not a gifted songster, but the full 

 song as heard on the breeding grounds is rather pleasing. It sometimes 

 sings a weaker suggestion of this song during its spring migration 

 in April and May. Dr. Harrison F. Lewis has sent me the following 

 note on this song : "Pipits sing a good deal when passing Quebec, P. Q., 

 in the spring migration. Here the song is commonly uttered while 

 the birds are on the ground, but I have heard them sing from a tree, 

 in which they perched freely. I do not appear to have any record of 



