448 ANTRIM. 



M. B ECKSTEIN separated the Pipits from the true Larks, 

 and proposed the generic term of Anthus for the former ; 

 this division and name have been generally adopted ; it 

 would still further assist correct definition, if among our- 

 selves the term Titlark could be discontinued entirely ; the 

 Tree Pipit being called the Titlark by some, the Meadow 

 Pipit a Titlark by others, and round the sea-coast, where 

 the Rock Pipit is generally the most frequent of the three, 

 that is also called Titlark. Scarcely any two British Birds 

 have been so frequently confounded together as the Tree 

 and the Meadow Pipits; but when the two species are 

 examined in hand, distinctions will be found that are suf- 

 ficiently obvious and constant ; and there are besides dif- 

 ferences in the habits of these birds, as well as in the 

 localities they each frequent. The Tree Pipit is rather 

 the larger bird of the two ; the beak is stouter and 

 stronger ; the spots on the breast larger and fewer in 

 number ; the claw of the hind toe is not so long as the 

 toe itself; the tertial feathers of the wings are rather 

 longer in proportion to the primaries ; the white on the 

 outer tail-feather on each side is neither so pure in colour, 

 nor is it spread over so large a portion of the feather ; and, 

 as far as my own observation goes, it does not appear to be 

 so numerous as a species as the Meadow Pipit. 



The Tree Pipit is a summer visitor to this country, ar- 

 riving about the third week in April, and frequents the 

 enclosed and wooded districts of England ; it is not un- 

 common around London, and I have observed it frequently 

 in the highly cultivated and wooded parts of Kent. The 

 male has a pretty song, perhaps more attractive from the 

 manner in which it is given than the quality of the song 

 itself. He generally sings while perched on the top of a 

 bush, or one of the upper branches of an elm-tree standing 

 in a hedge-row, from which, if watched for a short time, 



