22 2 THE INVITATION. 



pated, namely, the American pipit, or titlark, a slender 

 brown bird, about the size of the sparrow, which passes 

 through the States in the fall and spring, to and from 

 its breeding haunts in the far North. They generally 

 appear by twos and threes, or in small loose flocks, 

 searching for food on banks and ploughed ground. As 

 they fly up, they show two or three white quills in the 

 tail like the vesper-sparrow. Flying over, they utter 

 a single chirp or cry every few rods. They breed in the 

 bleak, moss-covered rocks of Labrador. Their eggs 

 have also been found in Vermont, and I feel quite 

 certain that I saw this bird in the Adirondac Moun- 

 tains in the month of August. The male launches 

 into the air, and gives forth a brief but melodious 

 song, after the manner of all larks. They are walkers. 

 This is a characteristic of but few of our land-birds. 

 By far the greater number are hoppers. Note the track 

 of the common snow-bird ; the feet are not placed one 

 in front of the other, as in the track of the crow or 

 partridge, but side and side. The sparrows, thrushes, 

 warblers, woodpeckers, buntings, etc., are all hoppers. 

 On the other hand, all aquatic or semi-aquatic birds 

 are walkers. The plovers and sandpipers and snipes 

 run rapidly. Among the land-birds, the grouse, pig- 

 eons, quails, larks, and various blackbirds, walk. The 

 swallows walk, also, whenever they use their feet at all, 

 but very awkwardly. The larks walk with ease and 

 grace. Note the meadow-lark strutting about all day 

 in the meadows. 



