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the longest. The inner secondaries 

 are greatly elongated. The tail is never 

 much shorter, and sometimes longer 

 than the wings. 



They are insectivorous birds, fre- 

 quenting the open fields and plains, 

 where they walk and run with ease. 

 Their flight is undulating and peculiarly 

 erratic. 



Pipits resemble the larks somewhat, 

 but may readily be distinguished by 

 the tarsus being sharp behind, and 

 by the longer outer primary. Their 

 brownish streaked coloring, and much 

 shorter tails easily separate them from 

 the Wagtails. Their seasonal changes 

 of plumage are very slight. 



Wagtails have black, white, and 

 gray plumage, or in some cases bright 

 yellow, but all are devoid of streaks 

 or mottling on the upper parts ; there 

 are often striking differences between 

 the winter and the summer plumages. 

 Their popular name comes from the 

 nervous habit of vibrating the tail 

 when standing or walking. 



The family comprises about a 

 hundred species distributed throughout 

 the world. China has 24 species, of 

 which 15 reach the Yangtse Valley. 



KEY TO THE PIPITS. 



The following key to the Pipits has 

 been adapted to the species occuring in 

 the Yangtse Valley, from that of Mr. 

 E.W.Oatesin "Fauna of British India." 



a. Hind claw not exceeding hind 

 toe in length ; 



a' Pale tip of inner web of pen- 

 ultimate tail feather very small, next 

 feather never tipped ; 



a" Streaks on lower plumage large, 

 black, well-definod ; light parts of tail 

 feathers white ; 



