204 Richard's Pipit. 



Family —MO TA CILLID, F. 



Richard's Pipit. 



Antkus ricliardi, ViEILL. 



SINCE 1824 this species lias been so frequently met witli in Great Britain 

 that, althoiigh only an autumn straggler to our shores, it has fairly earned 

 its title to be considered a British bird : as regards its distribution on the 

 Continent, Howard Saunders saj-s : — " Richard's Pipit has been met with, as a 

 rare straggler, in the southern districts of Norway and Sweden ; but on Borkum, 

 Heligoland, and along the coasts of Holland, Belgium, and France, it is not 

 uncommon on migration. In Central Europe it is rare, though in the south of 

 France, especially in Provence, it is not unfrequeut ; near Malaga and throughout 

 the south of Spain it is in some years tolerably common from November to April ; 

 while it occurs irregularly in Italy, and in the basin of the Mediterranean, 

 occasionally visiting North Africa. Its usual breeding-grounds are not to be found 

 west of Turkestan ; in the valley of the Yenesei, Mr. Seebohm found both old 

 and young in August, up to 58° N. lat. ; and it nests abundantly on the elevated 

 steppes of Eastern Turkestan, the Lake Baikal district, and Mongolia. In winter 

 it visits South China, Burma, and the Indian region. 



The first recognized British specimen of this species was caught near London, 

 in October, 1812, and was recorded twelve years later; since then sixty or more 

 specimens have been noted, mostly from the south of England, and more particularly 

 from the coast of Sussex ; it has also been met with in Lincolnshire, Norfolk, 

 Oxford, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Lancashire, Cumberland, and Northumberland : 

 in Scotland it is said to have been seen in Banffshire. 



When in breeding plumage Richard's Pipit above is of a sandy-brown colour ; 

 the feathers, excepting on the rump, with dark centres ; those of the upper tail- 

 coverts ill-defined ; wing-coverts tipped with tawny ; flights margined with buffish- 

 white ; two outermost tail-feathers white with dark margins to the outer webs, the 

 second pair also with dark shaft ; remaining feathers dark-brown, the central pair 

 with pale edges ; under surface white, faintly tinted with buff, excepting on the 

 breast which is distinctly buff, and streaked with dark-brown ; a line of spots also 

 running up the sides of the neck to the base of the bill ; the latter is dark-brown. 



