RICHARD'S PIPIT. 233 



ANTHUS RICHARDI. 

 RICHARD'S PIPIT. 



(PLATE 14.) 



Anthus richardi, Vieill. N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. xxvi. p. 491 (1818) ; et auctorum plu- 

 rimorum (Bonaparte), (Degland $ Gcrbe), Sahadori, (Jerdon), Dresser, 

 Netcton, &c. 



Corydalla richardi (Vieill.), Vigors, Zool. Journ. i. p. 411, pi. xiv. (1825). 



Anthus macronyx, Gloger, Handl. Vog. Eur. i. p. 269 (1834). 



Anthus longipes, Hollandre, Faune de la Moselle, p. 85 (1836). 



Cichlops xnonticolus, Hodys. Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 83 (1844). 



Corydalla sinensis, Bonap. Consp. i. p. 247 (1850). 



Anthus niaximus, Blyth, White's Nat. Hist. Selborne, p. 262 (1850). 



Agrodromas richardi ( Vieill.), Sounders, Ibis, 1871, p. 216. 



This fine Pipit was discovered in 1815 by M. Richard, of Luneville, who 

 sent examples from Lorraine to Vieillot, who named it in honour of its 

 discoverer. Richard's Pipit was first described as a British species by Vigors, 

 who exhibited, at a meeting of the Zoological Club of the Linnean Society, 

 on the 13th of April, 1824, an example which had been netted in the fields 

 near London, in October 1812. Rennie, in 1831, in his edition of Mon- 

 tagu's ' Ornithological Dictionary/ records a second British example taken 

 at Oxford ; and Yarrell was informed by Mr. Proctor, of Durham, that he 

 had shot one near Howick, Northumberland, on the 13th of February, 

 1832. Since that date so many examples of this bird have been obtained, 

 that we may now regard it almost as a regular straggler on autumn migra- 

 tion to our islands. It has been obtained in Norfolk and Shropshire, but 

 more frequently on the south coast. Edward states that he once saw this 

 bird in Baiiffshire, but there is no other Scotch record. It does not 

 appear to have ever been obtained in Ireland. 



So far as is known, Richard's Pipit is confined during the breeding- 

 season to the central portions of Asia. The northern limit of its range 

 appears to be lat. 58 in the valley of the Yenesay, whence it extends 

 south-east through Dauria as far as the mountains of Eastern Thibet on 

 the confines of China, and south-west as far as Eastern Turkestan on the 

 confines of Cashmere. It winters in India, Ceylon, the Burmese penin- 

 sula, and South China. A considerable number, principally birds of the 

 year, appear annually to join the western stream of migration, and find 

 their way into Europe. It has occurred accidentally in Persia, and passes 

 Heligoland regularly every year. It has also been found in Norway, 

 Sweden, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Russia, Asia Minor, and even in 

 Algeria. Richard's Pipit has several near allies, with some of which it 



