tHE VVATEk-WAGTAlLS, PIPlTS AND flTS. li^ 



The Pipits are birds midway between the Wagtails 

 and the Larks. Their tails are long, but not very 

 long, and they wag them a little. In plumage they 

 resemble Larks. There are many kinds in India, 

 most of which love stony hills and barren plains. 

 One species, however, which Jerdon calls the Indian 

 Titlark (Corydalla rufula), meets us almost every- 

 where, often consorting with the Wagtails. It is a 

 permanent resident, making its nest on the ground 

 like a lark. I ought also perhaps to mention the 

 Indian Tree Pipit (Pipastes agilis), so called because, 

 though it lives and feeds on the ground, it always 

 flies up into a tree when frightened. In its tastes it 

 resembles the Wagtail, seeking moist and cool places, 

 and the shade of trees, but in its character it is quite 

 the reverse of that restless creature. It is a quiet 

 bird, seldom uttering a sound, walking softly and 

 picking up little insects gently, while its tail wags 

 slowly like a mechanical toy. It is of a sociable 

 disposition, and you will often see half-a-dozen 

 feeding under the shade of one tree. In the country 

 which lies opposite our harbour, where the roads are 

 often avenues of fine trees, you may meet scores of 

 these birds in a morning's walk. They let you come 

 very near and then all fly silently into the tree above 

 them. They will not hop about there, but sit silently 

 for a little and then fly down again. You will recog- 

 nise them more easily by these traits than by colour 

 or shape, for there is nothing striking about the Tree 

 Pipit. It leaves us as the hot season comes on and 

 goes to bring up its young on the Himalayas. 



The Larks outfit to follow next, for they arc in 

 many respects very near to the Pipits, but in the 



