NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 391 



wholly of grasses. The eggs are grayish-white, but so thickly are 

 they covered with specks of hair-brown that they appear to be almost 

 of a uniform tint of brown. At the larger ends these specks are heavier^ 

 producing the appearance of a darker color. The five eggs measure: 

 .79 x .58, .78 x 58, .81 x .58, .81 x .58, .80 x .55, respectively. The average 

 size is .78x.58. 



[698.] Anthus pratensis ( LINN. ) [72.] 



Meadow Pipit 



Hab. Europe; northern portions of Africa in winter; occasional in Southern Greenland. 



The European Titlark very closely resembles the American bird, 

 A. pensilvaniciis, in appearance and all its general characteristics. 

 An occasional visitant in Southern Greenland. It inhabits the whole 

 continent of Europe, where it is the most common and best known of 

 its tribe. In Great Britain the Titlark is found throughout the year. 

 It frequents all kinds of localities hill or valley, marsh or moorland, 

 shady woods and flowery meadows, the neighborhood of busy towns, 

 or the sandy sea-shore. The nest is built on the ground, and is com- 

 posed of dried grasses, lined with finer grass, moss and a few hairs. 



The eggs are four to six in number, and scarcely any two sets are 

 exactly alike in color ; the ground tint may be blue-gray, reddish- 

 brown or yellow-brown ; in all cases the eggs are spotted and mottled 

 with darker brown or mouse-gray, giving to the surface a uniform dark 

 appearance. A set of five eggs collected by Mr. W. Wells Bladen, 

 June 2, 1879, in Staffordshire, England, exhibits the following sizes: 

 79 x -59> -80 x .59, .83 x .58, .84 x .59, .85 x .60. A set of four from Suf- 

 folk measure, respectively, .78 x .58, -75X.54, . 74x^7, .77 x. 56. The 

 average size is .78x.57 



700, Anthus spragueii ( AUD.) [ 73.] 



Sprague's Pipit. 



Hab. Interior plains of North America. Breeds from Central Dakota northward to the Saskatchewan 

 country; south in winter over southern plains to Southern Mexico. 



The Missouri Skylark has the same general habits common to the 

 Titlark, but soaring like the European Skylark when singing, and 

 according to those who have heard it, its vocal powers are not less 

 inferior than those of that celebrated bird. It breeds abundantly in 

 Dakota and Montana northward to the Saskatchewan districts, where 

 Captain Blakiston found them common on the prairies during the 

 breeding season. Sprague's Pipit can also be found in summer in 

 Western Minnesota and in Nebraska. 



Its nest is built on the ground in a depression, and is made of fine 

 grasses, interwoven in a circular form and without lining. The sur- 



