228 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Booth, in his ' Rough Notes/ gives many interesting remarks on the 

 migration of this bird from his own observations, to which I would refer 

 those of my readers who wish to enter more fully into this portion of the 

 bird's life-history. 



The Meadow-Pipit has the general colour of the upper parts olive-brown, 

 and the dark centres of the feathers are well pronounced, except on the 

 rump and upper tail-coverts. The white on the outside tail-feathers 

 resembles that of the Tree-Pipit, but is generally purer and less developed 

 on the penultimate feather. The general colour of the underparts is nearly 

 white, thickly streaked with blackish brown on the sides of the neck, breast, 

 and flanks. Bill dark brown above, pale at the base of the lower mandible ; 

 legs, feet, and claws pale brown, the hind claw being much elongated (as 

 long as the toe) and slightly curved; irides deep blackish brown. The 

 female resembles the male in colour. After the autumn moult the general 

 colour of the upper parts is a yellowish olive-brown, and of the underparts 

 a yellowish buff. Birds of the year are suffused both on the upper and 

 under parts with chestnut-buff, and are more profusely streaked on the 

 breast and flanks characters which are still more pronounced in young in 

 first plumage. 



The Meadow-Pipit may be distinguished from the Red-throated Pipit 

 by the following characters : Adult A. cervinus in full breeding-plumage, 

 with its pale huffish-chestnut throat and breast and nearly white margins 

 to the feathers of the mantle, appears to be very distinct from the same 

 plumage of A. pratensis, with nearly white throat and almost olive-green 

 margins to the feathers of the mantle. Adult A. cervinus in winter may 

 be distinguished by the white margins to the feathers of the mantle ; but 

 the underparts are the same in both species at this season of the year, 

 except that in very rare instances the chestnut is retained on the throat. 

 Birds of the year of the two species are scarcely distinguishable, both 

 having very buff underparts and olive-green margins to the feathers of 

 the back, but the general colour, especially of the rump and upper tail- 

 coverts, is greyer in A. cervinus than in A. pratensis. Examples occasion- 

 ally occur in spring of birds which from the general colour of the upper 

 parts are evidently A. cervinus, but which have no chestnut on the throat. 

 These are unquestionably examples of A. cervinus which, from some reason 

 or other, have not moulted the feathers of the under parts in spring ; but 

 they may be distinguished at once by the dark shaft-lines on the under tail- 

 coverts and the almost black centres of the upper tail-coverts, as well as of 

 those of the rest of the upper parts two characters which are, perhaps, 

 the best to discriminate between the two species, though the latter is not 

 so marked in birds 01 the year. 



