198 The MEADOw-PiriT. 



note is described as a low clear tst, often rapidly repeated, and the alarm-note as 

 a short whiL 



The nidification of the Meadow-Pipit usually commences in April, the nest 

 being almost always well concealed and invariably on the ground, frequently in a 

 meadow, or on swampy ground among reeds, on a bank half hidden by coarse 

 grasses, and one which I found early in May, containing almost i^edged nestlings, 

 was built in the middle of a mass of coarse grass on a mound in an opening near 

 the centre of a dense tangled Kentish shaw ; it has also been found in ling ; at 

 the foot of a bush ; in a cavity under an overhanging bank, or stone. 



The materials of the nest consist of dry bents, and sometimes a little moss, 

 with a lining of finer grass or rootlets and hair ; like most other nests it varies 

 considerably in bulk and compactness. The eggs are not much unlike those of 

 the Rock- Pipit, excepting that they are smaller ; in number they wary from four 

 to six, their ground-tint being gre3ash or greenish-white, more or less densely 

 mottled with olive-brown, often forming an ill-shaped zone towards the larger end, 

 where also dark hair-lines are frequently present. The Meadow- Pipit is usually 

 double-brooded. 



The food of this species in the summer consists of insects and their larvse, 

 spiders, small centipedes, small worms, and fresh-water mollusca ; but in winter 

 when insect-food is scarce, small seeds and even grain are eaten. 



Stevenson, in his " Birds of Norfolk," says : — " The Meadow-Pipit or Tit-Lark 

 is one of the most common of our resident species, and generally distributed 

 throughout the country. On heaths and commons, by the banks of rivers, in 

 meadows and marshes, on the grassy summits of our lofty cliffs, or the low marram 

 hills upon the sandy beach, the cheeping note of this familiar bird meets us at 

 every turn, and in more cultivated districts, it springs at our approach from the 

 arable land, and, drifting like waste paper down the wind, is gone with a yhif, 

 yJiit, yhit, almost before we fairly see it. In summer it is nowhere more abundant 

 than in the district of the broads, where it sings from the top of the small alder 

 and sallow bushes, which are scattered in many places over the dry marshes, and 

 cheeping as it ascends from a projecting spray, utters its simple but pleasing song, 

 with quivering wings and outspread tail, as it slowly descends to its station 

 again." 



The above is the most characteristic description of the Tit- Lark which I have 

 met with, and, therefore, I have not hesitated to quote it for the benefit of those 

 not conversant with this species. 



My first experience of the Meadow-Pipit as an aviary bird was in October, 

 1888, when a bird-catcher brought me a male example which I turned into my outer 



