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THE OPEN COUNTRY 



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beginning of March or earlier, and breed in the middle of April and in the middle 

 of June. The meadow pipit is not quite 6 inches long, and has a good deal of 

 white in its plumage, though in the main its upper-parts are olive, and the breast 

 buff, both being spotted and streaked with black. The eye-stripe is narrow and 

 whitish, the axillaries are brown and yellow ; the upper wing-coverts edged 

 with white, and there is white in the outer tail-feathers. Ranging over northern 



and central Europe, the species ex- 

 tends to Iceland and Norway ; in 

 Asia it is found in the north and 

 west ; and it is also met with in 

 southern Europe, along the African 

 coast of the Mediterranean, and up 

 the Nile Valley so far as Abyssinia. 

 Blue-Headed The wagtails, being 



wagtail. near xskva. to the pipits, 

 next claim attention, and we take as 

 an example the blue-headed species 

 (MotacMa flava), which is one of 

 the yellow group, and extends all 

 the way from the British Isles to 

 Alaska by way of Kamchatka. This 

 wagtail frequents marshy places, and 

 fields and pastures near running 

 water, avoiding hilly country, and 

 only crossing mountain-ranges when 

 on migration. Essentially a bird of 

 the plains and of the stream, it is 

 distributed over the greater portion of 

 Europe and Asia, departing in Septem- 

 ber from central Europe to South 

 Africa. At the beginning of April it 

 returns and makes its well-hidden nest 

 among tufts of grass, frequently under 

 the shelter of a spurge. It feeds on 

 insects, particularly small flies, which 

 it catches on the ground as well as 

 in the air, seeking and pursuing them 

 round the muzzles of grazing cattle. 

 Although the larks, as a rule, are birds of the open country, 



Crested Lirk 



they prefer fields under cultivation. The crested lark (Galerita 

 cristata) frequents high-roads and lanes, and dry, sandy barren ground, especially 

 at high elevations. It avoids meadows, cornfields, and woods ; never perches on 

 trees, and is a silent, confiding bird, which allows approach within a short distance, 

 until it endeavours to escape by running a little way or by a longer flight. 



The gradual occupation of Germany by the crested lark in modern times has 

 been carefully recorded. The bird has always been a common resident in the lower 



BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL. 



