234 WAGTAILS AND PIPITS 



times 5 or even 6 in number. They have a whitish ground, thickly spotted with 

 brown and underlying violet, sometimes with a tendency to a zone or cap. 

 Average size of 137 eggs, -86 x -62 in. [21-96 x!5'75 mm.]. The eggs are laid 

 about the end of May, and probably only one brood is reared as a rule. Accord- 

 ing to Naumann (Vogel Mitteleuropas, iii. p. 76) incubation is by the hen only, 

 and lasts 13-14 days. [F. c. R. J.] 



5. Food. " The food consists of small insects, but seldom or never of seeds " 

 (Saunders, Manual of British Birds, 1899, p. 138). The young are fed by both 

 parents on insects (Naumann, op. cit.). [A. L. T.] 



6. Song Period. Not recorded. 



RICHARD'S PIPIT [Anthus richardi, Vieillot. German, Spornpieper ; 

 Italian, titro]. 



1. Description. Easily distinguished by its large size, the great length of 

 the legs and the claw of the hind toe, which generally greatly exceeds the length 

 of the toe itself. (PL 30.) The upper parts are of a sandy brown, mottled 

 rather than striated with dark brown, recalling the coloration of the lark. 

 There is a distinct eyebrow of sandy white, and the ear-coverts are of a sandy 

 rufous, with fine dark striations. The median and major coverts are dusky with 

 pale fulvous margins, and the inner secondaries are margined buffish white ; the 

 outer pair of tail feathers are white with a narrow dusky margin along the inner 

 web, penultimate pair white with dark brown shaft, and a grey-brown inner vane, 

 remaining feathers dark brown, the central pair having buffish margins. The 

 chin is white ; from the base of the beak to the gorget runs a line of dusky spots ; 

 the gorget itself is marked with dark brown spots on a ground colour of buff ; the 

 spots extend backwards, on each side, along the flanks, which are also buff. The 

 abdomen is white. Length 7'25 in. [184 mm.]. After the autumn moult a more 

 decided rufous tinge pervades the upper parts, and this is even more marked in 

 the under parts that is to say, the sandy and buff-coloured areas become 

 intensified. The female differs from the male only in her rather smaller size. 

 Young birds have the upper parts of a cream colour striated with dark brown : 

 on the under surface the striations are heavier. This species has both a spring 

 and an autumn moult, [w. P. p.] 



2. Distribution. Breeds in Turkestan, Siberia, Tibet, and Mongolia, while 

 a smaller local race breeds in China. It is found in winter as far as the western 

 limits of Europe. [F. c. R. J.] 



