1104 Report of State Geologist. 



XLVir. Family MOTACILLID^. Wagtails. 



o'. Tail shorter than wing; usually much streaked below. Anthus. 164 



164. Genus ANTHUS Beckstein. • 

 Subgenus Anthus. 



294. (697). Anthus pensylvanicus (Lath.). 



American. Pipit. 

 Synonym, Amekican Titlark. 



Bill and foot of American Pipit. Natural size. 



Adult. — "Points of wings formed by the four outer primaries, the 

 fifth being abruptly shorter; hind claw, nearly straight, nearly or quite 

 equal to its digit; above, dark-brown, with a slight olive shade, most 

 of the feathers Avith dusky centers; eyelids, line over eye, and under 

 parts, pale huffy or ochrey-brown, variable in shade; breast and sides 

 of neck and body, thickly streaked with dusky; wings and tail, black- 

 ish; inner secondaries, pale-edged; one or more outer tail feathers, 

 wholly or partly white." (Mcllwraith). 



Length, 6.00-7.00; wing, 3.30-3.50; tail, 2.65-2.83. 



Eange. — North America, from Guatemala and Bermudas to Arctic 

 Ocean. Breeds from Colorado, above timber line on mountains, and 

 Labrador, north. Winters from southern Illinois and Nevada, south. 



Nest, of grass and moss, on the ground. Eggs, 4-6; whitish, almost 

 hidden by thick specks of brown; .78 by .57. 



The Titlark, familiar to every plowman in early spring, is one of 

 those birds that frequent the wet fields in flocks and give forth a 

 mellow pee-de, pee-de, as they rise and when on the wing. They arise 

 from the meadow and fre(;[uently fly a long distance, or ascend to a 

 great height, and, after various evolutions, return almost to the spot 

 from which they started. One who is acquainted with their call can 

 recognize them by it as they pass overhead, even when they are out 

 of sight. While sometimes a few individuals, or a few pairs, are asso- 



