MOTACILLID.E—niE WAGTAILS. I73 



off to a short distance, with loud crit's «»t' distress tliat soon bring the mate 

 and other i)airs of the same s|>eeie8 to jt»in in the lamentations. Tliev liover 

 over the lieads of the intruders, at times ai)i»roaching within a few feet, ex- 

 pressiuLj their (Hstress hy the most jtlaintive cries, and even when tlie in- 

 truders withdraw followinu tlieni to a ('onsi(U*ral»le distance. 



All the ne.sts of this lark that I liave seen are remarkable for the thickness 

 of then- walls, and tlie stren<j;th, com]>actness, and ehdMmite care with which 

 the materials are put together, i)aiticularly for nests built on the ground. 

 Thev are well suited to inotect their eontents from the cold, damp ground 

 on which they are jdaced ; and their u])])er p()rtions are ccmiposed rf stout 

 vegetable stems, lichens, and grasses strongly interwoven, and forming a 

 strong rim around the u}»i)er part of the nest. 



Dr. Coues describes their eggs as of a dark chocolate-color, indistinctly 

 markeil witli numerous small lines and streaks of l»lack. Au(hd)on describes 

 them as having a ground-color of a deep reddish-chestnuT:, darkened l»y nu- 

 merous dots of deei)er re(klish-l»rown and lines of various sizes, esi)ecially 

 toward the larger end. Those in my i)ossession, received from Liibrador by 

 Tliienemann, measure from .7.") to .7^ of an inch in length, and from .51) 

 to ,<J2 in breadtli, and liave a light-brown or clay-colored ground, so thickly 

 covered with st)ots as to he almost conceahid. These spots are of a purplish 

 chocolate-brown, with occasional darker lines about the larger end. In 

 others the markings are bolder and larger ami of brighter hues. Like the 

 eggs of the Antkm arhurcm of Europe, it is probable that those of this 

 Titlark exhil»it great variations, both in ground-color and in the shades of 

 their markings. 



Anthus pratensis, IU-chst. 



EXmOPEAH PIPIT, 



Alaudu pmteims, LiXN. Syst. Nat. 17»>(), 2S7. .lutlms fmitmsis, Bf.ciist, Deutscli. Viigcl, 

 111,1807, 732. — Kkys. & r>i..\..s. Wiib. Euioiias, lS4(i, 172. - Zandki:. C'u1». Jour. I, 

 t'Xtrahcft, 1853, (>(•. — P.vilskn, cd. Hiii.iuiLL, Fauu. (lit.nlamls, 184t5, 24, — Ukin- 

 HAKDT, Ibis, 18G1, tj. — NkWTon, li.VItlNG-tlori.D's Iceland, 1803. — Daiiid, Kev. 

 Am. H. 18t)4, 1. -».'.. 



Figures : Oould's Birds Kurope, pi, cxxxvi, 



ITab. Europe genoruUy ; couniioii in Lapland : accidental in Greenland ; St. Michael's, 

 Norton Soun<l. 



This sj)ecies in general form resendiles the A. ludoriciftnua, the tilth 

 primary in both being abruptly and considera])ly shorter than the outer four; 

 the bill and legs (juite similar. The average size appears much the same. 

 The upper parts are, however (especially the head a.nd back), more distinctly 

 streaked with dusky; the edge and inside of wing greenish-yeUow, not 

 white, and the upper jdumage and outer edges of the quills decidtMlly olive- 

 green. The shafts of the middle tail-feathers above are whitish, not dark 



