1S8 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



75. Anthus spinoletta petrosus (Mont.) *— THE ROCK-PIPIT. 



Alauda petrosa Montagu, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, iv, p. 41 (1798 — 



Wales). 



Alauda obscura- — Non A. ohscura Gmelin 1789 — Latham, Index Orn., 



II, p. 494 (1790— England). 



Anthus ohscurus (Latham), Yarrell, i, p. 086; Saunders, p, 143. 



Anthvs spinoletta ohscvrus (Lath.), Hand-List B.B., p. 36 (1912). 



Description. — Adult male and. female. Winter. — All upper-parts 

 dark olive-brown, rump uniform but feathers of rest of upper- 

 parts with darker and browner centres : orbital ring and narrow, 

 .somewhat indistinct, line from nostrils over and behind eye, 

 creamy-white ; lores and under eye blackish, finely speckled 

 creamy-white ; ear-coverts olive-brown ; chin, centre of throat 

 and belly olive-buff or olive-white ; under tail-coverts same but 

 longer ones streaked olive-broviTi ; rest of under-parts thickly 

 streaked dark olive-brown (the dark parts of the feathers being 

 blended into the pale parts the streaks are not harshly contrasted) ; 

 axillaries smoke-browii fringed white or yellowish-Avhite ; tail 

 brown-black fringed olivaceous on outer v.ebs, central pair browner, 

 outer p)air pale smoke-brown on outer web and A\ith a smoky- 

 white wedge-shaped mark on distal half of inner web, next 

 (penultimate) pair with a smoky- white mark at tip ; wing-feathers 

 brown-black narrowly edged olivaceous on outer and more broadty 

 smoky-white on inner webs, inner secondaries broadly edged 

 olive-brown ; primary-coverts like primaries ; rest of wing-coverts 

 like inner secondaries but with rather paler tips. This plumage 

 is acquired by complete moult in Aug. -Oct. In mid- winter when 

 somewhat worn upper-parts become browner (less olive) and 

 imder-parts paler with the streaks browner and more distinct. 

 Summer. — The body-plumage is moulted in Feb. -April, occasionally 

 lesser and median wing-coverts, or some innermost secondaries 

 and rarety whole tail, but not usually any tail-feathers and not rest 

 of wing-feathers, primary-coverts or greater Aving-co verts. New 

 feathers like winter but very slightly less olive on upper-parts and 

 usually slightly less olive-buff and more whitish on imder-parts, 

 and the streaks rather browner and less olive. When worn, dark 

 centres of feathers of upper-parts become more distinct and fringes 

 are greyer, under-parts paler. N.B. — Rarely there is a slight 

 pinkish-buff tinge on throat and such specimens are very difficult 

 to distinguish from some specimens of A. s. littoralis, but crown 

 of latter is usually slightly greyer. 



Nestling. — Down, brown-grey, long and fairly plentiful ; dis- 

 tribution, inner and outer supra-orbital, occipital, spinal, humeral, 

 ulnar, femoral, crural and ventral (short on last). Mouth, inside 

 reddish-flesh, no spots, externally gape-flanges very pale yellow. 



Juvenile (Plate 6). — Like adult but upper-parts slightly browner 



* We are obliged to Mr. T. Iredale for pointing out the prior use of 

 A. ohscura in 1789. — Ed. 



