MEADOW PIPIT. 115 



arrival in spring, and may be observed perched on the summit of 

 an elm or ash tree, from which it repeatedly ascends to a height of 

 twenty or thirty feet, uttering a series of twitterings, and returning 

 to its perch with almost motionless wing, the descent being slowly 

 performed in a curve. In other parts of western Scotland the 

 species is distributed from Inverness-shire to the Khinns of Gallo- 

 way, but is by no means plentiful. I have found it in scattered 

 pairs throughout the summer near Girvan, in Ayrshire, and also 

 in the south of Wigtownshire, where in autumn its numbers increase 

 for about a week or ten days previous to its migratory flight 

 southwards. 



On the east coast this pipit seems equally dispersed over the 

 sea-board counties from Berwick to Banffshire, extending its flight 

 occasionally as far as Orkney. In some of the inland counties 

 I have also observed it, viz., in Dumfries, Stirling, and Roxburgh. 

 Mr Alston likewise finds it in the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire. 



The nest of the Tree Pipit is usually placed on the ground in 

 or near the edge of a wood, and is a somewhat loosely put together 

 structure of soft straws lined with hair. The eggs are extremely 

 variable. Those I have obtained near Glasgow are very light in 

 colour, but handsomely mottled. Mr Brown tells me that in 

 Stirlingshire, where the species breeds plentifully, he has taken the 

 eggs of all shades, from the common red variety to a grey stone 

 colour, pencilled with delicate lines like those so often seen on the 

 eggs of the sedge warbler. He has also taken others having a 

 strong general resemblance to the eggs of the blackbird. 



THE MEADOW PIPIT. 



ANTHUS PRATENSIS. 

 Ehiabhag mhonaidh. 



THE familiar and lively moss cheeper, as this bird is called in Scot- 

 land, is everywhere common, often appearing in places where bird 

 life is scarcely looked for. It is very abundant in North Uist and 

 Benbecula, and indeed over the greater part of the Long Island, 

 extending to the uninhabited rocks and islets far beyond. Even 

 in St Kilda it may be seen frequenting the neighbourhood of the 

 huts of the lonely inhabitants, its feeble notes being at certain 

 seasons of the year almost the only sound breaking the silent 



