34 BULLETIN 19 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



birds have them, notably the juncos, the vesper sparrow, and, to -a 

 less extent, the longspurs. The juncos are not often seen in the haunts 

 of the pipit, and if they were, the color patterns of the different juncos 

 are quite distinctive. The sparrow and longspurs are not so slender 

 as the pipit; they have short, conical bills, and they hop rather than 

 run. The white tail feathers of the pipit show only in flight, but its 

 slender form and sharp bill, together with its habit of walking or 

 running, the nodding of its head, and the frequent up-and-down mo- 

 tion of its comparatively long tail should distinguish it from the 

 others. 



Fall. — As soon as the young are able to care for themselves the 

 pipits gather into flocks and begin to drift av/ay from their breeding 

 grounds before the end of August. We begin to see them in New 

 England in SejDtember, in flocks of varying sizes from a dozen to a 

 hundred or more, mainly coastwise on the salt marshes, on the mud 

 flats, or along the beaches, but often farther inland along tidal streams, 

 in open fields, and on wind-swept hills. They are commoner here 

 in fall than in spring and usually remain to enliven the brown and 

 dreary landscape until the frosts of late November drive them farther 

 south. By this time the eastern birds have entirely deserted their 

 northern breeding grounds. In the meantime the western birds have 

 drifted down from their alpine heights, above timberline, and are 

 spread out over the plains and lowlands. Migrating birds are often 

 seen in enormous flocks, as some continue their migration beyond our 

 borders into Mexico and beyond. 



Winter. — Although the American pipit extends its winter range 

 as far south as Guatemala, most of them spend the winter within the 

 limits of the United States, fairly commonly as far north as Cali- 

 fornia and Ohio ; farther north it is rarely seen in winter. Dr. Stone 

 (1937) draws the following pen picture of winter pipits in New 

 Jersey : 



On some day of midwinter when there has been no bhmket of snow such as 

 sometimes covers the landscape, even at such a supposed 'semi-tropic' region 

 as Cape May, we gaze over the broad monotonous expanses of plowed fields and 

 conclude that here at least bird life is absent. We contrast these silent brown 

 stretches with the swamp edges and their bursts of sparrow conversation or 

 with the old pasture fields where Meadowlarljs are sputtering. But let us 

 start to cross these apparently deserted fields and immediately with a weak 

 dee-dee, dee-dee, a small brown bird flushes from almost beneath our feet, 

 then another and another, displaying a flash of white feathers in the tail as 

 they rise. In a moment they have settled again farther on and are lost to sight 

 against the brown background as suddenly as they appeared. We advance 

 again and now the ground before us seems fairly to belch forth birds, as with 

 one accord, the whole flock takes wing, and with light, airy, undulating and 

 irregular flight, courses away over the fields, now clearly defined against the 

 sky, now swallowed up in the all pervading brown of the landscape. 



