PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 233 







TAWNY-PIPIT [Anfhus campestris (Linnaeus). French, pipi rousseline; 

 German, Brachpieper ; Italian, calandrd], 



1. Description. Distinguished by the relatively large beak, the incon- 

 spicuous character of the striation, and the yellow hue of the under parts. 

 (PL 30.) The sexes are alike in coloration. Length 6'5 in. [165 mm.]. The upper 

 parts are of a sandy brown tinged with grey and relieved by dark striations, 

 most distinct on the crown, a fawn-coloured superciliary stripe, and ash-coloured 

 auriculars. Wing-coverts dark brown tipped cream colour, secondaries amber- 

 brown with tawny margins. Tail feathers dark brown, median pair with broad 

 fawn-coloured margins, the outer pair creamy white with white shaft and dark 

 brown inner vane ; penultimate pair cream white with dark brown shaft, and 

 very broad dark brown inner vane. Chin and throat tawny white ; breast and 

 flanks buff, slightly striated with dark brown. After the autumn moult the tawny 

 hue of the plumage is more marked. In young birds the feathers of the upper 

 parts have dark brown centres and cream coloured margins, giving a very dark 

 appearance, while the fore-neck and chest are spotted with dark brown, [w. p. p.] 



2. Distribution. Breeds locally over almost the whole of Europe, but is 

 absent from Norway, North Sweden, North Russia, and Iceland. Its range in 

 summer includes South-west Asia and North Africa. It breeds on the opposite 

 side of the Channel, but its claim to be a British breeding species rests only upon 

 some evidence that a pair or so have occasionally nested on the Sussex coast 

 (M. J. Nicoll, Hastings and East Coast Naturalist, vol. i. No. 4 ; cf. British Birds, 

 i. p. 112). [F. c. B. j.] 



3. Migration. The species is chiefly known as an uncommon but pro- 

 bably regular passing visitor, chiefly to the south coast of England and to 

 Sussex in particular (British Birds, i. 113). It has occurred also in Suffolk, Norfolk, 

 Yorkshire, Cornwall, and the Scilly Isles, and is no doubt frequently over- 

 looked. It has not yet been noted in Ireland, Scotland, or Wales (cf. Saunders, 

 Manual of British Birds, 1899, p. 137 ; and British Birds, vol. i. pp. 112, 113). 

 Most of the records are for the months September to November. The species has 

 not yet been observed during the spring passage. [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. Does not as a rule breed in the British Isles. The 

 nest is neatly built of roots and stalks, lined with hair, and is placed in a hollow 

 on the ground under shelter of a clump of grass or some other plant. Whether 

 the cock aids the hen in its construction is not recorded. Eggs usually 4, some- 



