THE MEADOW PIPIT. 



ANTHUS PRATENSIS. 



Hiud claw longer than the toe, slightly curved ; upper parts asli, tinged with 

 olive, especially in Minter, the centre of each feather dark brown ; under parts 

 reddish white, streaked with dark brown. Length live inches and three-quarters. 

 Eggs dull white, variously spotted and mottled with brown. 



It may be thought at the first glimpse that a difference in 

 the comparative length of the hinder claws of two birds so 

 much alike as the Tree and Meadow Pipits is scarcely 

 sufficient to justify a specific distinction ; but Avhen it is 

 considered that a short and curved claw enables a bird to 

 retain a firm grasp of a small twig, while a long and almost 

 straight one is best adapted for perching on the ground, it 

 will appear at once that, however similar two birds may be 

 in all other respects, yet the slight one in which they 

 differ is the point on which hinges a complex scheme of 

 habits. So the Tree Pipit frequents wooded districts, and 

 passes a large portion of its time aloft among the branches, 

 while the Meadow Pipit finds its happiness on the ground. 

 It is not, indeed, confined to the unwooded country, for no 



