THE WAGTAIL FAMILY 47 
than an English sparrow, and they go in flocks. 
They are never seen in the woods, but in open 
pastures or plains, or beside a road. 
Sprague’s Pipit is all in streaks of brown and 
gray, and lighter below. He has a large foot, 
which shows that he lives on the ground, and 
a very long claw on the hind toe. 
The nest of the pipit is made by hollowing 
out a little place in the ground and lining it with 
fine grasses. Though on the ground, it is one 
of the hardest to find, because it is lightly cov- 
ered with the dry grasses, and when the bird 
is sitting, she matches the grasses so well that 
one can hardly see her, even when looking right 
at her. 
The birds eat insects and weed seeds, and go 
about in flocks. Even then they are hard to 
see, because when they are startled they do not 
flutter or fly, but crouch or squat at once, and 
stay perfectly still. 
This bird is noted, as I said, for his song. It 
is said to be as fine as that of the English sky- 
lark of which we hear so much. Perhaps his 
way of singing makes it still more interesting. 
He starts up on wing, flies a little one way, then 
the other, all the time going higher and higher. 
So he climbs on up, up, up, in a zigzag way, till 
he is fairly out of sight, all the time giving a 
