MEADOW PIPIT. 183 



of theirs. Occasionally they may be seen in the streets of 

 towns, driven thither by stress of weather. 



The late Bishop Stanley in his truly-named 'Familiar 

 History of Birds,' mentions the fact of one of these little 

 birds having alighted on board a vessel, in the midst of the 

 Atlantic Ocean, thirteen hundred miles from the nearest part 

 of America, and about nine hundred from the wild and barren 

 island of Georgia. They move in a southerly direction in 

 the autumn, to avoid severe weather. 



This is one of the many different kinds of birds which 

 feign being wounded, in order to entice away apparent in- 

 truders from their young, in whose safety, and even in that 

 of the nest and eggs, they display the greatest interest. At 

 times they may be seen wading into the water, and washing 

 themselves with much apparent satisfaction. They are alert 

 and nimble in all their movements, 'watchful and wary.' They 

 are easily tamed. 



Their flight is but short and unequal, that of a very homely 

 bird of passage. They have some more immediate object in 

 view in their movements, than to cross the ocean and visit 

 a far distant clime. In the days of summer they hover 

 occasion all}- over or about their nest, singing the while, and 

 now and then settle on a low bush, or a rail, alighting with 

 a sweep, or sometimes almost perpendicularly; but their mother 

 earth is their more natural resort, and from thence 'their 

 sober wishes seldom learn to stray.' Akin to the Wagtails, 

 this species frequently oscillates its tail when standing on 

 some mound of earth, or stone, or other eminence, especially 

 on first settling, and generally perches and roosts on the 

 ground. 



The food of the Titlark consists of insects, worms, small 

 slugs, and shells of course with their contents. These it 

 searches for on the ground. 



Its song, which is soft and musical, though with little 

 variety, is uttered on the wing, when watching about its 

 nest, and also, occasionally, when perched. It is commenced 

 generally about the middle of April, but has been known 

 earlier, not unfrequently in March, and on one occasion so 

 soon as the 4th. of February: it lasts till July. The ordinary 

 note is a gentle 'peep;' from whence, probably, the name of 

 Pipit; and, when alarmed, a 'trit, trit.' 



The nest is placed either on or close to the ground, often 

 in marshy places, among grass, near a tuft, on the branch 



