167 



almost to surpass belief a phenomenon which 

 has no parallel among any other feathered tribes 

 on the face of the earth, that Naturalists are 

 acquainted with. The chief food of the Passenger 

 Pigeon is beech mast, with numerous other 

 grains and fruits, among which is to be counted 

 rice, a favourite article with them. They have two 

 or three broods in the year, and their breeding 

 places are generally in beech woods. Their nest, 

 which is very slight, is composed of a few twigs 

 rudely woven into a platform, and so loosely con- 

 structed that the eggs and young can be seen from 

 below. The eggs, according to Audubon, are not 

 more than two in number, and of a pure white. 



PIPIT, MEADOW PIPIT. 



LARK, OR TITLARK. 

 ANTHUS PBATENSIS, Flem. 



This species is so generally distributed as to be 

 very common in many countries, occurring in the 

 interior as well as on the coast, and frequenting 

 wet meadows, moors, commons, and pasture lands. 

 In winter it becomes occasionally gregarious, and 

 betakes itself to marshy places open to the sea- 

 shore. Like the Wagtail, it runs with celerity, 

 and feeds upon flies, worms, and other insects. It 



