PIPITS. 



487 



The family Alaudida; comprises more tlian one hundred species, especially char- 

 acteristic of the plains and deserts of the Eiirnsiatic continent and Africa, while only 

 a few forms, evidently recent immigrants, are found in the Australian and the Neo- 

 ga?an regions. 



As already indicated, it is a question whether the general resemblance which the 

 larks present to certain iloTACii.i.iD.K, especially the pipits (^^inthun), is anything more 

 than a superficial analogy. At any rate, the similarity in external appearance between 



Fi(i. 237. — Europe;!., i-., ..o ^A,,lJiu.-j. 



certain )iipitsand the tyi)ical larks is certainly astonishing, and he who attem]its to dis- 

 tinguish between ."some of the species without looking closely at the hind side of the tar- 

 sus, or at the nnstrils, which in the ]iipils are exi>osod, will find himself in a bad fix ; for 

 the resemblance not only affects the coloration both in general and in detail, but also 

 the elongated himl claw, and the long inner secondaries. Even in the h.abits there is 

 consider.able likeness, for the ]iipits have a manner of singing when on the wing quite 

 similar to that of the larks, though the song itself is much inferior. Physiologically 



