THE AMERICAN PIPIT. 221 
for she flushes at long distances. Either she will slip off quietly and sneak at 
thirty yards, or else flush straight at a hundred. When the nest is discovered 
she is quite as likely to ignore the intruder, and seldom ventures near enough 
to betray ownership. On the other hand, given patience and a pair of strong 
binoculars, “tracking” is not a difficult accomplishment. 
No. go. 
AWE RICAN, “PIPL. 
A. O. U. No. 697. Anthus rubescens (Tunstall). 
Synonyms.—AMERICAN TITLARK. Brown Lark. Loursrana Pipir. 
Description.—Adult in spring: Above soft and dark grayish brown with 
an olive shade; feathers of crown and back with darker centers; wings and tail 
dusky with paler edging, the pale tips of coverts forming two indistinct bars; 
outer pair of tail-"eathers extensively white; next pair white-tipped ; superciliary 
line, eye-ring and underparts light grayish brown or buffy, the latter streaked 
with dusky except on middle of throat and lower belly,-- heavily on sides of 
throat and across breast, narrowly on lower breast and sides. JVinter plumage: 
Above, browner; below, duller buffy; more broadly streaked on breast. Length 
6.00-7.00 (152.4-177.8); wing 3.37 (85.6); tail 2.53 (64.3); bill .46 (11.7); 
tarsus .9O (22.9). 
Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; brown above; buffy or brownish with 
dusky spots below; best known by flip-yip notes repeated when rising from 
ground or flying overhead. 
Nesting.—WNest: at high altitudes, a thick-walled structure of grasses and 
moss set into deep excavation in sloping hillside or in cranny of cliff. Lggs: 
4-6, usually 5, so heavily speckled and spotted with reddish or dark brown as 
almost entirely to obscure the whitish ground color. Often, except upon close 
examination, the effect is of a uniform chocolate-colored egg. Av. size .77 x .57 
(19.6 x 14.5). Season: June 15-July 25; one brood. 
General Range.—North America at large, breeding in the higher parts of 
the Rocky and Cascade Mountains and in sub-Arctic regions; wintering in the 
Gulf States, Mexico, and Central America. Accidental in Europe. 
Range in Washington.—Abundant during migrations; common summer 
resident in Cascade Mountains above timber-line; winters sparingly west of 
mountains. 
Migrations.—Nomadic; retires from mountains early in September; moves 
southward across State Oct. 15-Dec. 15; northward April 1-May 15. 
Authorities? Townsend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci., Phila., VIII., 1839, 154 
(Columbia River). Anthus ludovicianus, Licht. Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. 
Pxepevll 1858, p)233- 1) C&S. i. Rh. Dt. Sr. Ra. D2. J: BU E. 
Specimens.—U. of W. P". Prov. B. E. 
THE American Pipit does not sustain the habitual dignity of the boreal 
breed. He is no clown, indeed, like our Chat, nor does he quite belong to the 
