TAWNY PIPIT. 



597 



Lark " of Pennant's earlier editions, regardless not only of his 

 description but also of the fact that he subsequently (Brit. 

 Zool. Ed. 4, i. p. 322) rightly referred that bird to the Sedge- 

 Warbler. In Provence it has long had a local name, Fiste, 

 the origin of which seems uncertain, though some authors 

 say it is taken from the bird's note ; but this, as syllabled 

 by most observers, has no resemblance to the sound of that 

 word. In Germany it is commonly known as the Brachpieper, 

 that is "Breck-Pipit," a very characteristic appellation, and 

 if there were not so many other cases of the kind as to 

 assure us that the attempt would be at present useless, we 

 might exercise our ingenuity in trying to discover the reason 

 why the barren brecks of our Eastern Counties and the appa- 

 rently no less suitable sandy heaths of the south of England do 

 not afford this species as congenial a home as the very similar 

 tracts of country which it frequents on the continent of 

 Europe. 



This bird is the type of the genus Agrodroma proposed by 

 Swainson, and frequently recognized by later writers. 



