ALPINE PIPIT. 251 
and rootlets, and lined with finer roots, and sometimes with horsehair or 
wool. The eggs are four or five in number, generally the latter, very rarely 
six, and resemble closely those of the Rock-Pipit. Some specimens are 
French-white in ground-colour, finely mottled and spotted over the entire 
surface with dull purplish brown, and with one or two hair-like blackish- 
brown streaks on the large end. The markings on this variety are 
so close as to show very little of the ground-colour between them. 
Another variety is pale greenish white in ground-colour, more sparingly 
mottled, blotched, and spotted with olive-brown of various shades, inter- 
mixed with numerous underlying markings of lilac: this variety also 
exhibits a few dark lines on the larger end of the eggs. Another variety 
is yellowish white im ground-colour, and the spots are rich olive-brown, 
confluent at the large end, and concealing all trace of the ground. The 
markings on most eggs are very small, often confluent on the large end, 
but in a few specimens they are less numerous and larger. Some eggs 
are very green in general appearance, others are very purple, whilst many 
are rich olive-brown. They vary in length from +93 to ‘8 inch, and in 
breadth from ‘65 to ‘6 inch. The Alpine Pipit is said to have two broods 
in the year. 
The food of this bird consists of insects, larvee, small worms, and land- 
shells; it will also eat small seeds in winter. The Alpine Pipit quits 
its mountain haunts in September or October, according to the state of 
the season, and in little parties repairs to the lowlands, where it frequents 
the low-lying meadows and marshes. Many of the European birds seek 
more distant climes, and penetrate far into Africa at this season. Dixon 
met with this bird in its winter-quarters at Biskra, on the borders of 
the Great Desert ; their haunts here were beside the Oued Biskra, and 
in a little marsh which was also alive with Wagtails, all on their journey 
northwards to breed. Canon Tristram also met with a small flock of 
Alpine Pipits in the marshes at Laghouat, another oasis still further in the 
Desert, and also saw another flock, which he supposed to be this species, at 
Tuggurt. 
The Alpine Pipit in breeding-piumage has the general colour of the 
upper parts sandy brown, suffused with slate-grey on the back and upper 
tail-coverts, and shading into almost pure slate-grey on the head and nape; 
the feathers on the head and back have obscure dark centres ; a pale buff 
streak passes from the base of the bill over the eye; the outermost tail- 
feather on each side has the greater part of the outer web and an elon- 
gated triangular patch on the inner web white, the next feather on each 
side has only a narrow streak of white running down the shaft from the 
tip. The chin, centre of the belly, and under tail-coverts are buffish 
white; the rest of the underparts are pale chestnut-buff, shading into 
olive-brown on the flanks. Bill very dark brown above, paler below ; 
