MEADOW PIPIT 41 



ceived by J. H. Paulsen (1846) taken in 184-i and recorded by him in 

 a footnote to his German translation of Holb0ll's "Ornithologiske 

 Bidrag til den gr0nlandske Fauna." This was the record referred to 

 by Prof. Alfred Newton in the Arctic Manual (1875), which the 

 A. O. U. Check-list quotes. Johan Petersen, who was superintendent 

 of the east-coast colony of Angmagsalik from 1894 to 1915 and whose 

 careful bird observations are quoted by Helms (1926), met with the 

 species repeatedly in that district, though by no means every year. 

 He first observed it in 1903, when four or five were seen by houses in 

 the colony on May 21 and one was shot and sent home to Denmark 

 for identification. The birds remained about in May and June and 

 were seen with young in July. Birds were also seen on a trip to 

 Sermilik Fjord, west of Angmagsalik, at the beginning of June. 

 Petersen records that they were in pairs "and to all appearances they 

 had nests in the vicinity." After this his notes do not mention the 

 species until 1908, when one was seen on May 9 and 12 and was heard 

 singing. In 1912 one was seen on May 5 and one was singing on the 

 mountains on June 11. The latter bird was seen again on July 13, 

 carrying food and behaving in such a way that it obviously had young. 

 On August 10 old and yoimg birds were seen near the colony. In 1913 

 one was seen on May 12, and finally, on a return visit to Angmagsalik 

 in later years, Petersen again met with the species in August and again 

 on October 10, 1923. 



F. S. Chapman (1932), the ornithologist of the British Arctic Air 

 Route Expedition of 1930-31, also met with meadow pipits in the 

 Angmagsalik district. The species was first recorded on May 24, 1931. 

 After this none reappeared till May 28, when, in the observer's words, 

 "a pair started nesting." It is a pity that Chapman was not more ex- 

 plicit on this point and does not state his evidence, since although 

 Petersen's observations leave no reasonable doubt that the species does 

 sometimes breed, it appears, as has already been noticed, that no actual 

 nest has yet been recorded. CorLsiclerably farther north, at Cape 

 Dalton, Bertram, Lack, and Roberts (1934) on August 20, 1933, saw a 

 meadow pipit that was probably breeding on rocky ground well cov- 

 ered with vegetation. Just previous to flushing the bird a nest was 

 found composed of grass on the ground in a site typical for this species. 

 H0rning (1939) has recently added two more autumn records, a male 

 shot at Kiingmiut, north of Angmagsalik, on September 6, 1933, and 

 a juvenile female at sea off Cape I. A. D. Jensen on Blosseville coast 

 on August 28 of the same year. 



The meadow pipit, a somewhat smaller and more boldly marked 

 species than the American pipit, is a bird of rough grasslands, moors, 

 heaths, sand dunes, and other open country in the breeding season. 

 Though it may be found frequently enough breeding on suitable rough 

 ground in the lowlands, it is more especially a bird of hill country and 



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