WAGTAILS AND PIPITS 1607 



trils unprotected by feathers; but in certain species the first toe is much elongated. 

 Practically cosmopolitan in their distribution, pipits are represented in all parts of 

 the world except the islands of the South Pacific; they are, however, really an Old- 

 World race, since only two, out of a total of some forty known species, are inhabi- 

 tants of North America. 



Even in Northern Europe, the tree pipit {A. arboreus) is a fairly 

 w r ell-known bird, but its favorite haunts are the mild climate of the 

 British Isles and Central Europe; and it shuns high and barren regions, preferring 

 the shelter of well-timbered valleys and the undulating hollows of English parks. 

 All the pipits are quarrelsome and fond of fighting individuals of their own kind; 

 and on one occasion we observed a tree pipit chase another of the same species 

 against the side of an hotel in Switzerland, the pursuer following up the chase 

 with such energy that he was unable to check his course, and dashing against the 

 Avindow, dropped stunned on the ground. Another time a tree pipit chose to take 

 up his abode in a small garden which was also a favorite hunting ground of a 

 robin, and although the fight was sharp the robin was eventually vanquished. 

 The tree pipits migrate in flocks, and in the spring the birds soon pair, when each 

 couple selects its own area of breeding ground. The song is melodious, its notes 

 bearing a strong resemblance to those of the canary. Sometimes this pipit sings 

 upon the ground, threading its way furtively through the stems of the hay crop, 

 pouring forth in snatches a volume of melody. Oftener the song is uttered while the 

 bird is perching on one of the larger branches of a tall tree by the roadside, or when 

 on the wing. Mr. Seebohm writes, that it is a pretty sight in early spring to watch 

 the tree pipit essaying his short flights, as he " springs up from the topmost twig of 

 some branch, and mounts nearly perpendicularly in the air warbling his pretty 

 song. He soon begins to hover in the air, and, as if fatigued by his recent journey, 

 almost immediately descends with tail and wings extended like a parachute, and at 

 last finishes his song on the ground, in a tree, or on a wall. His downward course 

 is in a semispiral curve, and he alights where the curve of his flight would make a 

 tangent to the surface of the ground. All this time he has been singing melodi- 

 ously, the clear, rich, joyous notes following each other in rapid succession, until, 

 as he reaches his perch, he concludes his song with several long-drawn notes ex- 

 pressive of almost impatient anxiety." The tree pipit nests upon the ground, often 

 upon a bank skirting the edge of a wood; the nest being always well concealed, and 

 built of dry stems of grass and moss, lined with fine bents and hair. At times sev- 

 eral pairs nest on a single strip of moorland, although this is unusual. The eggs 

 vary greatly in color, but the most usual type has the ground color white, so closely 

 suffused with deep brown as to be almost entirely of the latter color. The young 

 Thirds leave the nest early and soon become independent of their parents. In autumn 

 these birds flock together, and many are captured by the bird catchers. The upper 

 parts of the tree pipit are brown, the feathers having dark centres, and the lower 

 parts buffish white, profusely spotted with dark brown. 



Upon the waste moorlands of Western Europe the meadow pipit (A. 



pratensis}, figured in the illustration on p. 1606, generally replaces the 



tree pipit, and finds a congenial abode among peat bogs and dreary wastes only 



