ROCK PIPIT. 75 



Family MOTACILLID^E. Genus ANTHUS. 



ROCK PIPIT. 



ANTHUS OBSCURUS (Latham). 

 Double Brooded. Laying season, April to July. 



BRITISH BREEDING AREA: The Rock Pipit breeds 

 more or less commonly on all the rocky coasts of the 

 British Islands, including the Channel Islands in the 

 south, the Orkneys and Shetlands in the north, the 

 Hebrides, St. Kilda, and the Blaskets in the west, and 

 the Fame Islands and Bass Rock in the east. 



BREEDING HABITS : The breeding-grounds of the Rock 

 Pipit are always situated near the sea. This Pipit 

 is a thorough rock bird during the nesting season, 

 and never breeds save on or near a rock-bound coast. 

 Although this species cannot be classed as gregarious or 

 even social during summer, many pairs of birds may be 

 met with along a short distance of suitable coast ; and 

 the smallest of rocky islets frequently contains several 

 pairs. The Rock Pipit pairs very early in spring; 

 nevertheless it is by no means an early breeder. The 

 nest, which is generally by no means easy to find, unless 

 stumbled upon by accident, is invariably placed on the 

 ground, and may be met with in a great variety of 

 situations. The site is usually a sheltered one, more 

 or less, either under a mass of rock or a big stone, 

 under a heap of dry sea-weed, or in some crevice of the 

 cliffs, it may be hundreds of feet sheer above the water. 

 Other nests may frequently be found amongst dense beds 

 of sea-campion, or sheltered by a tuft of sea-pinks. I 

 have taken the nest of this species from a disused 

 Puffin's burrow, and from a hole in the walls of a ruined 

 hut. The nest is never made far from the water. 



