i6io THE PERCHING BIRDS 



The haunts of the tawny pipit (A. campestris} are chiefly in 

 desert regions, at least through a large portion of its range. In 

 Europe it is chiefly known as a summer visitor to certain favored districts, such as 

 the sierras of Spain and Portugal, the sand dunes of the Baltic coast line, and 

 sparingly on high ground in Central France. It is a shy and wary species, even 

 on the breeding ground. Mr. Seebohm found it very common in Greece, where it 

 is the only pipit that nests. It there prefers the open plains, being especially 

 common on the undulating prairie country, half rock and half grass and heath, 

 between Athens and Marathon. It runs on the ground with great agility, and has 

 a restless, zigzag flight, which appears less undulating than that of the meadow 

 pipit. The nest, according to Mr. Seebohm, "is sometimes under a bush, some- 

 times beneath a tuft of dense herbage, or under the shelter of a clod of earth; at 

 others in the open plain among the growing crops, and often near a dried-up stream- 

 let on a bank beside a convenient stone. It is made of dry grass, often inter- 

 mixed with a few stems of coarse herbage or straws, together with roots, and lined 

 with horsehair." The eggs are white in ground color, profusely spotted with red- 

 dish brown and underlying spots of gray. The tawny pipit migrates from its 

 breeding ground in August, at which season it has occasionally been captured in 

 the British Isles and on Heligoland. The adult male is nearly uniform brown 

 above; the wings and tail being conspicuously edged with buff, while the chin is 

 buffy white, and the lower parts buffish, slightly streaked with brown upon the 

 breast. 



THE CREEPERS 

 Family CER THIID^E 



The creepers bring us to a small group of birds modified to pursue their prey 

 (comprising spiders and insects) upon the surface of cliffs or the trunks of trees; 

 the best-known forms being small and plain-colored birds typified by the common 

 European tree creeper (Certhia familiaris}. All have the beak relatively long, 

 slender, sharp, and curving downward; the wings including ten primaries, and the 

 tail consisting of twelve stout and pointed feathers, which are often stiffened to 

 aid climbing. The claws are long and curved, and the metatarsus is scutellated. 



Some divergence of view obtains among ornithologists as to the limits and 

 serial position of the family. Dr. Sharpe, for instance, who places it near the wag- 

 tails and pipits, would include in this family the nuthatches; while, on the other 

 hand, Mr. Gates excludes the latter and includes the wrens within its limits, plac- 

 ing the family between the drongos and the warblers. Employing the term in the 

 original more restricted sense, the Certhiidtz are widely spread over the northern 

 regions of both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres; several species also inhabit- 

 ing the Indian region, while others are peculiar to Australia. 



Passing by the tree creepers (Certhia), in which the tail is composed of stiff 

 feathers, and also the Indian spotted-gray creeper (Salpornis), remarkable for build- 



