THE WATER-PIPIT. THE ROCK-PIPIT. 205 



Family MOTA CILLIDsE. 



THE WATER-PIPIT. 



Anthus spipoletta, LINN. 



ONLY four examples of this species, all from Sussex, have been recognized : 

 I therefore do not consider that (at present) it has much claim to be 

 regarded as British : at best it is but a chance and very rare straggler to our 

 shores. 



Family MO TA CILLIDsE. 



THE ROCK-PIPIT. 



Anthus obscurus, LATH. 



SEEBOHM says that the " Rock-Pipit is little more than a coast-form of the 

 Water- Pipit, and appears to be confined to the rocky portions of the coasts 

 of North-western Europe, from the White Sea to the Bay of Biscay. It is found 

 on the shores of the Baltic ; but there is no satisfactory evidence of its frequenting 

 those of the Mediterranean. It is a resident throughout its range, except in the 

 extreme north." 



" The Rock- Pipit is a resident on all the coasts of the British Islands, with 

 the exception of the low-lying eastern shores south of Spurn, where it only appears 

 as a straggler or on migration. It is found commonly in the Channel Islands, in 

 the Hebrides, St. Kilda, the Orkneys, and Shetland, and is also common in the 

 Faeroes, although not known to visit Iceland or Greenland." 



John Cordeaux in his " Birds of the Humber District," says that this species 



