3. ANTHUS. 563 



priman- shorter than fourth, about, equal to the long secondaries. 

 Primaries emarrjinate, 2, 3, 4, 5, all distinct. Feet reaching to about 

 three quarters of length of tail (in skin). 



Adult female. General colour above nearly uniform sandj- brown, 

 with lighter sandy margins to the dorsal feathers ; the scapulars, 

 lower back, and rump more ashy ; head like the back, and streaked 

 with dark brown in the centre, these mesial streaks not being very 

 strongly pronounced ; lesser wing-coverts ashy brown ; median and 

 greater series and bastard-wing dark brown, broadly edged with 

 sandy rufous, inclining to whity brown on the greater coverts; 

 primary-coverts and quills dark brown, edged with ash}^, the first 

 primary narrowly, and the secondaries broadly with sandy buff; 

 upper tail-coverts brown, with sandy-buff edges ; tail-feathers dark 

 brown, edged with ashy brown ; penultimate feather with a tri- 

 angular spot of sandy buff through which a blackish shaft-line 

 passes ; the outer tail-feather pale sandy buff, inclining toisabelline 

 towards the tip, the shaft dark brown or blackish, the inner web 

 with a broad oblique mark of dark brown ; eyelid, lores, and a 

 tolerably distinct eyebrow pale sandy bufi' ; in front of the eye a 

 dusky spot ; ear-coverts deep sandy buff, ashy on the upper margin 

 like the sides of the neck ; cheeks and under surface of bodj' pale 

 sandy buff or deep isabelline, with a few triangular dusky streaks 

 and spots on the lower throat and fore neck ; thighs and under 

 tail-coverts like the abdomen ; axillaries and under wing-coverts 

 like the breast ; quills dusky below, rufcscent along the inner web. 

 Total length 7'o inches, culmen 0-65, wing 3"9, tail 3-5, tarsus 1-1. 



Adult femaJe in hreedinfi-pluma<je. Differs very little from the 

 winter plumage, but is decidedly more ashy, the sandy margins to 

 the feathers much worn, and greatly reduced on the wing-coverts 

 and quills ; the eyebrow, ear-coverts, and throat become bleached 

 to a very pale isabelline, and the under surface of the body is also 

 light isabelline brff, much paler on the throat. The streaks on the 

 fore neck are nearly oljsolete. 



The series in the Museum is insufficient to work out the full 

 changes of plumages undergone by this species ; but it would appear 

 that the winter dress is more mealy and less ashy than the summer 

 plumage, and that the streaks on the chest, which are tolerably 

 plain in the autumn, become more so in the following spring, and 

 then get worn out as the breeding-plumage becomes bleached. 



Jcrdon's Pipit differs from AntJnis sordidvs principally in its 

 uniform coloration both above and below, and it is altogether more 

 mealy in appearance. At first sight it would appear to be the 

 winter plumage of A. sordidus ; but this is clearly not the case, for on 

 comparing birds of both species obtained in Februarj', the diftereuccs 

 between them are very apparent, though they are rather difficult to 

 describe in words. 



In size the two birds are very similar, but A.jcrdoui is altogether 

 paler and much more uniform, the dark mottlings, so conspicuous 

 in A. sordidus, not being at all pronounced, and underneath, besides 

 being much paler, there are scarcely any spots on the breast, and 



2o2 



