47 



GENUS AXTHUS. 



MEADOW-PIPIT. 



Anthus pratensis (Linnaeus). 



Local Names — Tit-lark, Ground-larh, Clieephui-Iarl,-, 

 Stciiqyipc. 



Eesident, and probably the commonest bird we have ; 

 breeding numerously everywhere, from the sand-hills 

 just above high- water mark to the tops of the loftiest 

 hills, and equally so on the most cultivated and the 

 most waste lands. In severe winters it is partially 

 migratory in the bleaker districts ; for instance, Eossen- 

 dale, where, as Mr. Kerr says, owing to the comparative 

 absence of trees and cover, many of the so-called resi- 

 dent birds are migratory. Mr. T. Jackson says that on 

 the marshes adjacent to the Lune estuarj^ this bird is a 

 constant visitor in great numbers during open weather 

 in winter. Its nest is chosen far more frequently than 

 any other by the Cuckoo, and seldom contains fewer 

 than six eggs, which are laid through May and June. 



TKEE -PIPIT. 



Anthus trivialis (Linnsus). 



Local Names — Gnnind-larlc, Tit-larl;. 



A summer visitor, whose quiet plumage, and want of 

 other very noticeable characters make its arrival not so 

 much remarked as that of many migrants. Blackwall 

 gives April 14th as the average date of its arrival at 

 Crumpsall for the fifteen years from 1814 to 1828, but 



