104 MOTACILLID^E : WAGTAILS. 



FAMILY MOTACILLID^E : WAGTAILS. 



AMERICAN PIPIT, OR TITLARK. 

 ANTHUS LUDOVICIANUS Licht. 



Chars. Above, olive-brown, most of the feathers with dusky centres. 

 Wings blackish-brown, the quills and coverts edged with pale 

 brown. Tail blackish, the middle feathers like the back, the two 

 or three outer ones largely or partly white. Line over and ring 

 around eye, and whole under parts brownish-white, or buffy- 

 brown, very variable in shade, the breast and sides of the body 

 and the sides of the throat spotted with the color of the back. 

 Bill blackish, pale at base below ; feet brown. Length, 6. 2 5-7.00 ; 

 extent, 10.25-11.00; wing, 3.25-3.50; tail, 2.75-3.00; bill about 

 0.50 ; tarsus, o 90. 



The manner of the Titlark's presence in New Eng- 

 land is similar to that of the Shore Lark, though these 

 ^^ two birds are not very closely re- 

 lated. It has never been known 

 to breed in New England, and 

 has very seldom been seen there 

 in summer. An instance of its oc- 

 currence at that season, however, 

 has been given by Dr. Brewer, who 

 states that Mr. W. A. Jeffries found 

 it on the 8th of June on an island 

 FIG. 27. -HEAD AND FOOT o ff Swampscott, Mass., and also 



OF PIPIT. (Nat. size.) . . 



adds that it was suspected to be 

 about to breed there. [*] The species is one whose 



[* See Bull. Nutt. Club, iv, 1876, p. 194. There is no doubt in 

 my own mind that the Titlark, like the Eremophila, will jet be 

 ascertained to breed occasionally along the coast of Maine. C.] 



