ALPINE PIPIT. 251 



and rootlets, and lined with finer roots, and sometimes with horsehair or 

 wool. The eggs are four or five in number, generally the latter, very rarely 

 six, and resemble closely those of the Rock-Pipit. Some specimens are 

 French-white in ground-colour, finely mottled and spotted over the entire 

 surface with dull purplish brown, and with one or two hair-like blackish - 

 brown streaks on the large end. The markings on this variety are 

 so close as to show very little of the ground-colour between them. 

 Another variety is pale greenish white in ground-colour, more sparingly 

 mottled, blotched, and spotted with olive-brown of various shades, inter- 

 mixed with numerous underlying markings of lilac : this variety also 

 exhibits a few dark lines on the larger end of the eggs. Another variety 

 is yellowish white in ground-colour, and the spots are rich olive-brown, 

 confluent at the large end, and concealing all trace of the ground. The 

 markings on most eggs are very small, often confluent on the large end, 

 but in a few specimens they are less numerous and larger. Some eggs 

 are very green in general appearance, others are very purple, whilst many 

 are rich olive-brown. They vary in length from '93 to *8 inch, and in 

 breadth from '65 to '6 inch. The Alpine Pipit is said to have two broods 

 in the year. 



The food of this bird consists of insects, larvae, small worms, and land- 

 shells; it will also eat small seeds in winter. The Alpine Pipit quits 

 its mountain haunts in September or October, according to the state of 

 the season, and in little parties repairs to the lowlands, where it frequents 

 the low-lying meadows and marshes. Many of the European birds seek 

 more distant climes, and penetrate far into Africa at this season. Dixon 

 met with this bird in its winter-quarters at Biskra, on the borders of 

 the Great Desert ; their haunts here were beside the Oued Biskra, and 

 in a little marsh which was also alive with Wagtails, all on their journey 

 northwards to breed. Canon Tristram also met with a small flock of 

 Alpine Pipits in the marshes at Laghouat, another oasis still further in the 

 Desert, and also saw another flock, which he supposed to be this species, at 

 Tuggurt. 



The Alpine Pipit in breeding-plumage has the general colour of the 

 upper parts sandy brown, suffused with slate-grey on the back and upper 

 tail-coverts, and shading into almost pure slate-grey on the head and nape; 

 the feathers on the head and back have obscure dark centres ; a pale buff 

 streak passes from the base of the bill over the eye ; the outermost tail- 

 feather on each side has the greater part of the outer web and an elon- 

 gated triangular patch on the inner web white, the next feather on each 

 side has only a narrow streak of white running down the shaft from the 

 tip. The chiu, centre of the belly, and under tail-coverts are buffish 

 white; the rest of the underparts are pale chestnut-buff, shading into 

 olive-brown on the flanks. Bill very dark brown above, paler below; 



