184 MEADOW PIPIT. 



of a veiT low bush, a bank, or a wall of turf. It is com- 

 posed of grass, the finer portions constituting the lining, with 

 occasionallj' a little moss and hair. One has been known to 

 be built on the end of a plank, which formed part of a heap 

 of timber. 



The eggs are from four to six in number, of a light reddish 

 brown, or reddish white, or pale brown, or pale blue colour, 

 mottled over, especially near the larger end, with darker 

 brown. The}^ vary much in depth of colouring, some being 

 much darker than others; hardly any two sets are exactly 

 alike in this respect. 



The eggs are laid about the middle of April, and the young 

 are abroad by the end of May. A second brood is often 

 produced about the middle of Jul3^ 



Male; weight, between four and five drachms; the length 

 varies from six inches and about a half, to six and three 

 quarters; bill, dusky, excepting on the edge of the upper and 

 the base of the lower, which incline to pale yellow brown: a 

 line of dusk}^ spots extends from it down the side of the 

 neck; another stretches over it; iris, dark brown. Head, 

 crown, neck on the back, and nape, brown, the middle of the 

 feathers being darker, and the edges much lighter: after the 

 autumnal moult the whole assumes a tinge of rich olive; chin, 

 throat, and sides of the neck, pale yellowish, brownish, or 

 rufous white; breast, light rufous white, spotted with dark 

 brown; below, dull white, tinged with brown, the whole 

 ground-colour attaining a yellowish tint after the autumnal 

 moult; back, as the nape. 



The wings expand to the width of from ten inches to ten 

 and three quarters: the first four feathers are nearly equal in 

 length, the first is the most pointed, some say that it is the 

 longest, but it is the third that is so; greater and lesser wing 

 coverts, brown, broadly edged with light brown; primaries, 

 brownish black, narrowly bordered with light brown, changing 

 seasonally to olive, and at other times to ash-colour: the 

 outer one has a white edge; secondaries and tertiaries, brownish 

 black, edged wdth light brown, changing in the same way in 

 the autumn, and at other times occasionally to ash-colour. 

 The tail is nearly two inches and a half in length; the two 

 middle feathers shorter than the others, and dark brown, 

 lighter towards the edge; the outer one on each side dull 

 white, or very light brown on the outer web, with a small 

 patch of brown on the broad inner web; the next on each 



