The Trke-Pipit. 195 



nests upon the ground, frequently in the side of a sloping bank on the margin of 

 a wood or shaw, or near the foot of a hedge by the roadside ; sometimes far away 

 in the centre of a grass meadow, or cornfield ; sometimes on a railwa}^ bank : 

 iisually the nest is tolerably well concealed, but one which I took from a roadside 

 bank not far from a large wood, was so conspicuously situated that, although it 

 only contained three eggs, I did not dare to leave it until the clutch was complete; 

 but paying a second visit to the same road a few days later I found a fourth egg 

 deposited in the cavity whence I had removed the nest. 



The nest itself is formed of dry grass and bents mixed with moss, the 

 materials somewhat finer towards the inside ; and lined with a few black horsehairs, 

 as in some nests of the Greater Whitethroat : but occasionally a few rootlets are 

 introduced into the walls, and sometimes the entire structure is made of drj'^ 

 grasses ; though all the nests which I have found have been fairly t3'pical. The 

 eggs vary from four to six in number, five being the more frequent clutch : in 

 colouring they differ individually as much as any eggs that are laid, and may 

 roughly be distinguished as — i. Greenish-white, spotted and heavily blotched at 

 the larger end with blackish-brown and lavender; 2. Buff- whitish, densely mottled 

 and spotted all over with olive-brown ; 3. Pinky-buff, densely mottled and spotted 

 all over with deep terra-cotta, with one or two black hair-lines or Bunting-marks 

 at the larger end ; 4. Ruddy-brown inclining to chocolate, with scarcely perceptible 

 darker reticulations, and black Bunting-marks at the larger end : every gradation 

 may be found between these four types ; but, in my experience the intergrades 

 between the olive and ruddy mottled types are the commonest. 



As nests may occasionally be met with from May to August, it is verj' probable 

 that two broods are sometimes reared ; but it is believed that this is by no means 

 the rule ; because the young, after leaving the nest, remain for a considerable 

 time in their parents' company. 



The action of this and all the Pipits is very like that of the Wagtails, as they 

 run upon the earth, their tails spring up and down in the same manner ; but in 

 their food they more nearly approach the Larks inasmuch as they not only eat 

 insects and their larvae, spiders, centipedes, and small worms, but also a good deal 

 of seed, more especially of cereals : in aviaries they often husk and swallow their 

 share of canary-seed. Whether the Tree-Pipit is as combative in confinement as 

 his relative the Tit- Lark I do not know, because I have had no personal experience 

 of the present species as an aviary pet ; but, from what I know of the Meadow 

 Pipit, I should recommend that only one example be admitted into a mixed aviary, 

 otherwise I suspect that there would be war to the death. 



Lord Lilford, speaking of this bird in Northamptonshire, sa3-s : — " It arrives 



C3 



