ANTHUS SORDIDUS. 315 



under surface of quills ashy brown with broad indistinct buff inner edges. 

 Bill dusky blackish with the basal portion of the lower mandible buff ; iris 

 brown ; legs ashy buff. Total length 6-6 inches, culmen 0"7, wing 3-4, 

 tail 2-7, tarsus 1-0, hind toe 0'5, hind claw 0-3. Socotra, 3, 2. 2. 99 (O. 

 Grant). 



Young. Differ from the adults only in the pale edges of the feathers of 

 the upper parts being slightly broader and a little more tinged with rufous, 

 and the dark markings of the crop slightly broader. 



Adults in winter plumage. Browner above, and the streaks on the crop 

 brown and narrow. Socotra, December (Balfour). 



Through the kindness of Mr. Hartert I have been able to compare the 

 type of A. sordidus labelled " 524a, Shoa." It agrees well with Buppell's 

 illustration. It is in extremely worn plumage, which no doubt accounts 

 for the mottling of the back being scarcely perceptible, but the bill, which 

 is likewise much worn, is too long for A. pyrrhonotus or A. nicholsoni, so 

 I have no hesitation in following Dr. E. B. Sharpe in retaining the name 

 A. sordidus for this species. 



The Long-billed Pipit ranges from Palestine and north- 

 western India into Somaliland and Abyssinia. 



It is the most abundant of the Pipits on Socotra island, 

 and according to Prof. Balfour is there known as " Degasa- 

 cus." Mr. Ogilvie Grant found them very common in all 

 the parts of the island he visited, from 4,000 feet down to the 

 sea level, and extremely tame. On December 11 he caught 

 in his butterfly net some young birds just able to fly, and on 

 the 16th of that month found a nest containing four slightly 

 incubated eggs, and writes : " The nest, a slight structure 

 of fine grass, was placed at the foot of a thick plant of bush- 

 grass, and so well hidden that it would certainly have been 

 passed unnoticed had not the female left the eggs. At Adha 

 Demellus, 3,500 feet, I found another nest with perfectly 

 fresh eo-ofs on the 8th of Februarv. The male bird sing's a 

 sweet song while perched on the top of a bush or rock, 

 and like other members of the genus frequently rises, with 

 quivering wings, to a considerable height in the air, singing 

 as it flies, and descending after some minutes to his former 

 perch." 



