T I T 



510 



T I T 



Pipit being called the Titlark by M>me, the Meadow Pipit 



a Titlark by other*; and round the sea-coast , where the 



i* generally the most frequent of the three, that 



it alio called Titlark.' 



Bedutein tcparated the Pipits from the true I.arks, 



Othe fonner the generic appellation of Anlhut, and 

 arrll elevates them into a family, Anlhidtf. 

 - mi' lintih: 



The Tree I'lpi!. .Imfim trniaiit; the Meadow Pipit, 

 Anlhut praienttt ; the K<-k Pipit, Anlhut obtcurut (An- 

 tkutpetronu, Klein.. Jen. ; Anthiu uijutiticut, Selby, Gould ; 

 Ala*da obtcura, Auct. i ; and Richard* Pipit, Ant/tut Ki- 

 ocrdi. 



The Titlark of Pennant is the Mtadotr Pipit of the 

 above list ; and Mr. Yarrell well observe* that scarcely any 

 two British birds have been so frequently confounded toge- 

 ther ai the Tree and the Meadow Pipits; but when the 

 two sprue* are examined in hand, obvious and constant 

 distinctions appear; and there are. he adds, bt sides, dif- 

 c in the habit* of these birds, as well as in the lot a- 

 lities they each frequent. The Tree Pipit is rather the 

 larger bird oi the two ; the beak is stouter and stronger; 

 the spots on the breast longer and fewer in number : the. 

 claw of the hiutl :..e !> not so long a* the toe itself: the 

 tertial feathers of the. wings are rather longer in propor- 

 tion to the primaries; the white on the outer t:iil-i> 

 on each side is neither so pure in colour, nor is it t\ 



-.) large a portion of the feather; and, as far as my 

 own observation goes, it doe* not appear to be so nu- 

 merous as a specie* as the Meadow Pipit.' 



Unlike the Meadow Pipit, the Tree Pipit is a summer 

 visitor, only arming in our well-wooded enclosures to- 

 wards the end of April. The male generally begins his 

 agreeable song from the top of a bush or an upper branch 

 of some 'hedge-row elm ;' fn>m his perch he uses into the 

 air, his wings shivering, till he has reached an elevation 

 about as high again as the tree from which he started. As 

 soon a* he has attained his greatest height he poises his 

 wings, spreads his tail and slowly descends, singing all the 

 while, to the same station whence he rose, or the top of 

 some neighbouring tree. The nest, placed generally en 

 the ground, is framed of moan, root-fibres, and withered 

 grass, lined scantily with bents and hairs. The eggs, four 

 romber, vary much bi colour in different nesU. 



J oat rfihi Tr. Pipit. (V 



Mr. Varn-ll considers the mo:-' :stic hue to be 



!i-white clouded and spotted with jn:i pie-brown or 

 purple-red ; the length of the egg about 10 lines, diai. 

 H. Fc tl and worm*. Total length uf the bird 



about (ty inches. This bird must not ..icii with 



OD-LAKK. 



The winter-quartern of this species are probably in 

 Northern and Western Afrieii. It is a Miulena biiii 

 also inhabits Japan. 



The Mean remain* wit hut throughout the 



and is the smallest and most common - 'total 



length being inches only. It haunts heathy and hilly 

 district*, a* well a* meadows and marsh-lands. Mr. 

 rell thu* describe* its habit*: 'When progressing 

 place to place, the flight of this bird is performed bysho.t 

 unequal jerks; but when in attendance on its man and 

 undisturbed, it rises with an equal vihiatory motion, and 

 sings some musical soft notes on the wing, sometime* 

 whilst hoveling over its nest, and return round 



after singing. Occasionally it may be seen to settle on a 

 low bush ; but is rarely observed sitting on the bianchof a 

 i perched on a rail, which i^ the common habit of 

 the Tree Pipit. The Meadow Pipit, when standing on a 

 si ight mound of earth, a clod, or a sto moves 



his tail up and down like a wagtail ; and Mr. Neville 

 Wood mentions that he has hraid him sine; while thug 

 situated on or very near the earth. The Meadow Pipit 

 seek* its food on the ground, alum; which it runs nimbly in 

 pursuit of insects, worms, and small slugs. In the stomach 

 of one of these birds, examined in the month of Din : 

 .Mr. Thompson, of Hellast. found two specimci 

 mu* lubricus. It is, according to the laM-named zoolo- 

 gist, the Mots-cheeper of the north of Ireland, a name 

 which Sibbald gives as applied to it in Scotland. 



Nest on the ground, generally among grass, made of 

 dried bents on the outside, with a lining oi tnu-r onesand a 

 few hairs: eggs from four to six, reddish brown mottled 

 with darker ; length nine lines by seven. 



Pennant gives Cor Hedydd an the Welsh name of the 

 Titlark, and Hedydd y cue as that of the Field-lark, Aland,-. 

 minor. 



Trt PifH. (ClMM ) 



Pipit, mulr ami frm.ilc. (Could.) 

 'lil'I.K UASKRS.] 



Di.l.DS. [VKNDOM AND PURCHAJIW.] 



. OF VoLUJII THK TWKNTY-FOUJITH. 



l-oulon: I'rin'.'li.j WMIIAM Cu'wn inJ Soin, Siamford-Mmt, 



