ii2 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



feathers; rump nearly uniform; checks, throat, and under 

 surface of body whitish, with a wash of sandy-buff on the 

 brea;t and sides of the body ; chest uniform ; wing-coverts edged 

 with sandy-buff; outer tail-feather nearly entirely white, with a 

 brown edging to the inner web, the shaft of this feather white ; 

 the next tail-feather blackish-brown on the inner web, the outer 

 web entirely light fulvous, this colour extending obliquely along 

 che inner web to the tip, the shaft brown ; sides of face whitish 

 with a moustachial streak of dusky. Total length, 7 inches ; 

 culmen, 0*65; wing, 3-6; tail, 2*8; tarsus, i'o. 



Adult Female. Similar to the male, but with the moustachial 

 streak less marked ; sides of breast slightly streaked with 

 dusky brown. Total length, 6*5 inches ; wing, 3*3. 



Winter Plumage. Paler than in summer, the sandy margins to 

 the feathers broader and more marked, especially on the quills ; 

 moustachial streak not emphasised. 



Young Birds. Resemble the winter plumage of the adults, but 

 distinguished by dusky blackish triangular spots on the fore- 

 neck and chest. 



NOTE. The Tawny-Pipit may be distinguished by its slightly-curved 

 hind claw, which is equal to the hind toe in length, or even exceeds the 

 latter, by its uniform breast when adult, the broad sandy- coloured margins 

 to the wing-coverts, the unstreaked flanks, and the pattern of the two outer 

 tail-feathers. 



Range in Great Britain. A rare autumnal visitor, generally to 

 the south coast. Several examples have been obtained near 

 Brighton. 



Range outside the British Islands. Formed throughout the 

 sandy and arid districts of Central and Southern Europe, east- 

 ward to Turkestan and Eastern Siberia, wintering in Sene- 

 gambia, N.E. Africa, and the plains of North-western India. 



Habits. From its pale coloration this Pipit might be con- 

 sidered a desert-haunting bird, but it cannot be said strictly 

 so to be, though it is undoubtedly a frequenter of sandy plains 

 and prairie-ground. It inhabits the sand-dunes of the Baltic Pro- 

 vinces, and even extends as far west as Holland and the north 

 of France ; found as well as in other tracts of sandy and waste 

 iand throughout the greater part of Europe, its furthest north- 



