152 ROCK PIPIT. 



the shore, the flight up into the air and descent with 

 the wings expanded all show its Pipit origin. Its 

 song, which the bird hardly ever utters, except on the 

 wing, is musical and sweet, but neither it nor the 

 song of the Titlark can compare with the song of 

 the Tree Pipit. 



The food of the Rock Pipit consists chiefly of 

 marine insects, which it picks up along the shore and 

 from the seaweed. It also feeds occasionally on 

 worms and seeds. The general colour of the upper 

 parts of the plumage is olive brown, streaked with 

 dark brown, the chin w^hite, and the rest of the under 

 parts sandy buff^, also streaked with dark brown. 



The nest is usually commenced towards the end of 

 April, and is built of dry grass; sometimes this is 

 mixed with seaweed and the stalks of plants growing 

 near at hand, or a little moss^ and it is often lined 

 with hair. It is placed upon the shore under shelter 

 of a stone or a heap of seaweed, beneath a project- 

 ing ledge, or in a crevice of a rock. 



The eggs are four or five in number. They are of 

 a greenish white in ground colour, mottled with small 

 reddish-brown and underlying pale-grey markings. 

 These spots are so thickly clustered together that the 

 ground colour is often completely hidden. The eggs 

 of the Rock Pipit do not vary so much as those of the 

 two preceding birds, and they are of slightly larger 

 size ; they resemble certain eggs of the Skylark rather 

 closely, but are not so long in proportion to their 

 breadth. 



