WATER-PIPIT. 



585 



The sexes hardly differ in plumage, but after the autumnal 

 moult and in the young the greenish hue of the upper parts 

 passes off and is succeeded by a more general tint of hair- 

 brown, on which the darker streaks are more plainly visible. 

 The warm buff of the lower parts is almost entirely lost, 

 these parts becoming a greyish-white, and the throat, breast 

 and belly are streaked distinctly with deep hair-brown. In 

 this stage of plumage the bird so much resembles the Rock- 

 Pipit as at first sight to be easily mistaken for it, but the 

 darker colour of the legs and toes and the cleaner appearance 

 of the lower parts will serve to distinguish the present species, 

 while the pure white markings of the two outer pairs of 

 tail-feathers form, on closer inspection, an unfailing crite- 

 rion. From the North-American Anthus ludovicianus (which 

 also occurs in Greenland) it may in this plumage be dis- 

 tinguished by the absence of any greenish or yellowish tinge, 

 and the larger size of the streaks on the lower parts, which 

 streaks in that species assume the form of tear- shaped or 

 arrow-headed spots. 



4 F 



