MEADOW-PIPIT 109 



parts dull buffy white, with numerous elongated spots of dull brown. 

 Length, five inches and three-quarters. 



To the uninformed the pipits are lesser larks ; they are lark -like 

 in figure, in their sober, mottled colouring, in habits, language, and, 

 to some extent, in the action which accompanies their song. But, 

 in spite of these outward resemblances, modern authorities have 

 removed them from the position they once occupied next to the 

 larks in classification, to place them by the side of the wagtails, 

 which are now supposed to be their nearest relations. And when 

 wagtails and pipits are seen running and flying about together, it 

 strikes us that there is among them a certain family resemblance ; 

 but we see, too, that the wagtails have diverged greatly, and are 

 much more graceful in figure, have longer tails, and a gayer plumage ; 

 they are also more aerial in habit, and warble a more varied strain. 

 From the fact that the numerous species of pipits are so much alike, 

 not only in appearance, but also in habits, language, and flight, 

 and that they are so widely distributed on the globe, being found 

 both on continents and oceanic islands, it may be inferred that the 

 modest earth-loving pipit represents the original form from which 

 the wagtails have sprung. 



Of our three species, the meadow-pipit is by far the most nume- 

 rous, being found in all open situations, moist or dry, meadow 

 and waste-land, moor and mountain-side, and close by the sea, 

 where one can listen to meadow-pipit and rock-pipit singing together, 

 or alternately, like birds of one species, and compare the two songs, 

 that are so much alike. This species is, moreover, to be met with 

 in all parts of our country, from the warm Hampshire and Dorset 

 coasts to the western islands of Scotland ; but while in the main a 

 resident all the year round in the southern parts of the country, in 

 the bleak and barren districts of the farther north" he is migratory, 

 and moves southward in winter in considerable flocks. 



The meadow-pipit seeks his food on the ground, and moves 

 nimbly about in search of minute beetles, caterpillars, and seeds, 

 pausing at intervals to stand motionless for a few seconds, with heac* 

 raised and tail slowly moving up and down. When approached he 

 displays a curious mixture of timidity and tameness, and eyes the 

 intruder with suspicion, but flies with reluctance. The flight is a 

 succession of jerky movements, the bird rising and falling in a 

 somewhat wild, erratic manner. 



In the love season the male pipit occasionally takes his stand 



