NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS. 



309 



WAGTAILS. Family MOTACILLID/E. 

 [694.] White Wagtail. Motacilla alba. 



Range. An Old World species; accidental in Greenland. 



These birds are abundant throughout Europe, nesting on 

 the ground, in stone walls, or in the crevices of old buildings, 

 etc., the nests being made of grass, rootlets, leaves, etc.; the 

 eggs are grayish white, finely specked with blackish gray. 

 Size .75 x .55. [White.] 



[695.] Swinhoe Wagtail. Motacilla ocularis. 



Range. Eastern Asia; accidental in Lower California and probably Alaska. 



696. Siberian Yellow Wagtail. Budytes flavus leucostriatus. 



Range. Eastern Asia; abundant on the Bering Sea coast of Alaska in the 

 summer. 



These handsome Wagtails are common in summer on the coasts 

 and islands of Bering Sea, nesting on the ground under tufts of 

 grass or beside stones, usually in marshy ground. Their eggs 

 number from four to six and are white, profusely spotted with 

 various shades of brown and gray. Size .75 x .55. Data. Kam- 

 chatka, June 20, 1896. Nest on the ground; made of fine root- 

 [White ] ^ ets ' S rass an d moss, lined neatly with animal fur. 



697. American Pipit; Titlark. A uthus pensilvanicus. 



Range. North America, breeding in the Arctic regions, and in the Rocky 

 Mountains south to Colorado, winters in southern United States and southward. 



The Titlarks are abundant birds in the United States during 

 migrations, being found in flocks in fields and cultivated 

 ground. Their nests, which are placed on the ground in 

 meadows or marshes under tufts of grass, are made of moss 

 and grasses; the four to six eggs are dark grayish, heavily 

 spotted and blotched with brown and blackish. ~~ Size .75 x .55. 



[Gray.] 

 [698.] Meadow Pipit. Anthus pratensis. 



Range. Whole of Europe; accidental in Greenland. 



This species is similar to the American Pipit and like that species nests on 

 the ground; they are very abundant and are found in meadows, woods or thick- 

 ets in the vicinity of houses. Their nests are made chielly of grasses, lined 

 with hair; the eggs are from four to six in number and are grayish, very heavi- 

 ly spotted and blotched with grayish brown. Size .78 x .58. 



[699.] Red-throated Pipit. Anthus cervinus. 



Range. An Old World species; accidental in the Aleutians and Lower Cali- 

 fornia. 



The nesting habits of this bird are like those of the others of the genus. 



700. Sprague Pipit. A itfhus spragudi. 



Range. Interior of North America, breeding from Wyoming north to Sas- 

 katchewan. Winters in the plains of Mexico. 



These birds are common on the prairies and breed abund- 

 antly on the plains of the interior of northern United States 

 and Manitoba. They have a flight song which is said to be 

 fully equal to that of the famous European Skylark. They 

 nest on the ground under tufts of grass or up-turned sods, 

 lining the hollow with fine grasses; their three or four eggs 

 are grayish white, finely specked with grayish black or pur- 

 Size .85 x .60. Data. Crescent Lake, Canada. Nest of fine dried 



[Grayish white.] 



^ 



plish. 



grasses, built in the ground at the side of a sod. Collector, Walter Raine. 



