286 BRITAIN'S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 



proficiency. They do not hop, but run like Wagtails ; 

 and the flight is also very undulating, although not to 

 the same extent as the Wagtairs. The plumage is char- 

 acterised by similar brown tints. 



This sober plumage rendere the Pipits rather incon- 

 spicuous birds, but their abundance makes them tolerably 

 familiar to all who have had occasion to visit any of their 

 numerous haunts. Of the three which call for description, 

 the Meadow-Pipit is certainly the best known. Such local 

 names as ' Ling-bird ' and ' Moss-cheeper "" are also in use, 

 but the popular name 'Titlark' is perhaps the most 

 frequently employed. This name probably signifies 'a bird 

 like a Lark, but smaller in size ' ; and there is much truth 

 in the statement. The two birds may be compared side 

 by side in most of their haunts. 



Many Meadow-Pipits leave us for the winter, but on 

 the lower grounds the species is practically resident, the 

 elevated moorlands being frequented only in summer. 

 With the return of spring the Titlark chooses a nesting- 

 site. This is usually a small hollow in the ground, well 

 concealed by bent-grass, heather, or other herbage. Dry 

 grass is the chief material employed, and the structure is 

 comfortable but not elaborate. The four to six eggs 

 have a ground-colour varying from greenish gray to pinkish 

 gray, but this is almost entirely concealed by the heavy 

 cloudings of rich brown. As in some Wagtails, a few 

 black hair-lines may be present near the larger end. As 

 in all the Passeres, the young are born helpless and almost 

 naked, and remain in the nest till full-fledged, notwith- 

 standing the strictly ground-nesting habits of the species. 

 The same remark applies to the whole of this family, and 

 to the Larks and others. 



That Birds are related to Reptiles is now universally 

 admitted, and it would therefore seem only logical to 



