WATER-PIPIT. 583 



iii. p. 745) more fully described the bird in its winter-plumage 

 SisAnthus aquaticus, and since in that stage it much resembles 

 our Rock- Pipit, the latter has been frequently miscalled by 

 that name. In 1816 Koch made a distinct species of the 

 bird as it appears in summer, terming it (Saugth. und 

 Yog. Baierns, p. 179) A. montanus a very suitable epithet, 

 for at that season it inhabits mountain-slopes, breeding on 

 the Alps and their high outliers even above the limit at which 

 trees grow. The nest is said to be placed among loose 

 stones, in the crevice of a rock or more generally among 

 herbage, and is built of roots, mixed with moss, and lined 

 with fine rootlets, bents, locks of wool and a few hairs. 

 The eggs are four or five in number, of a french-white 

 very closely mottled with dark brownish-olive, without much 

 variation in tint, and measure from -83 to *78 by from -64 

 to -59 in. The bird is said to breed twice in the course of 

 the summer, and its general habits are described as being 

 very like those of its congeners, the cock rising in the air to 

 sing, and then returning to perch on an elevated stone or 

 bush. Its actions in searching for food resemble those of 

 Wagtails. When the breeding- season is over it resorts to 

 the margins of streams and lakes, where it continues until 

 frost and snow drive it from the mountainous districts. 



The range of this Pipit is very great though not, in Mr. 

 Dresser's judgment, quite so wide as has been said. It would 

 seem doubtful whether it occurs in any part of Scandinavia, 

 unless it be in Denmark, where Dr. Kjaerbolling says he has 

 several times shot it. Mr. Gatke reports it from Heligoland, 

 and it is found in winter in Holland and Belgium. In the north 

 of France it is a bird of double passage. Throughout the rest 

 of Europe it is more or less commonly distributed, breeding 

 always on suitable mountains from the Straits of Gibraltar to 

 the Ural, and descending to the low lands at other times of the 

 year. In winter it is found in Algeria, and Canon Tristram 

 obtained it even at Laghouat on the verge of the Great 

 Desert. It is well known also at that season as an Egyptian 

 bird, but it has not occurred to Capt. Shelley's knowledge 

 in Nubia. It is found at the same time of year in Palestine, 



