Perching Birds. 



2>y 



RICHARD'S PIPIT. 

 {Anfhiis richardi.) 



The range of the Red-throated Pipit is more eastern than that of the Meadow- 

 Pipit, as it breeds from Northern Scandinavia to Eastern Siberia and Kamtchatka, 

 beyond the limits of forest growth, wintering in China and Burma, and the Malayan 

 Islands, as well as in Persia and North-eastern Africa, as far as Machakos in 

 British East Africa. 



It is an inhabitant of the swampy districts of the north, breeding in June, and 

 making- a nest of dr}' grass, placed under a tussocky ridge in the bogs, according to 

 Mr. Seebohm. In habits it resembles the Meadow-Pipit, as might be expected, and 

 the eggs are similar in colour and variation to those of the last-named bird. 



This is a large species, with a very strong hind claw, equal to 

 the hind toe in length, or even e.xceeding the latter. The male 

 measures 7 J inches in length, and the wing is 3-95 ; the female, 

 which is smaller, having a wing of 3^ inches. It is very much like a Lark in appear- 

 ance, but has no dark streaks on the flanks, and the pale portion of the outer tail-feather 

 is white. All Pipits have the outer tail-feathers of two colours, and the extent of the pale 

 marking forms a distinctive character in many of the species, as will be seen below. 



Richard's Pipit seems to be a regular autumnal visitor to Western Europe. It 

 has been met with in England several times at this season of the year. Its breeding 

 home is in Siberia, from the Valley of the Yenesei and Central Asia to Mongolia, and 

 it is a frequent winter visitor to China and the Indian Peninsula. It is a grass- 

 loving species and is seldom seen in its northern haunts during the breeding season, 

 except when it rises into the air to sing. In its winter quarters in India and Ceylon, 

 it is a shy bird, as it is also in its northern habitat, but it resembles a Lark in 

 its fondness for cattle pastures, and like the last-named bird, it is fond of dusting 

 itself in a sand}- road. 



The eggs are from four to six in number, the ground-colour being greenish- 

 white, nearly hidden by spots of greenish-brown and grey. Some eggs are 

 browner in tint than others. 



The Tawny Pipit (Anthns cam- 

 pestris]. A rare winter visitor from 

 the Continent to the southern coasts 

 of England, several specimens having 

 been captured near Brighton. The 

 home of the species is in Central and 

 Southern Europe, where it inhabits 

 the sandy districts, as far east as 

 Central Asia, extending even to 

 Eastern Siberia. The winter home 

 is in Senegambia, North-east Africa, 

 and the plains of North-western 

 India. 



The Tawny Pu'IT. 



