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and is a sight that never loses its charm. Its sprightly movements, constant 
fluttering, and spreading of wings and tail give it a vivacity that few other 
species exhibit. Like many other American birds the term Redstart was 
given it by early settlers who bestowed upon it the name of a familiar 
Old World form though the resemblance is far from close. 
FAMILY—MOTACILLIDH. WAGTAILS OR PIPITS. 
There is only one species of this family in eastern Canada and for the 
family characters the reader is referred to the specific description following. 
697. American Pipit. TITLARK. FR.—LAFARLOUSE D’AMERIQUE. Anthus rubescens. 
L, 6-38. A ground-coloured and ground-haunting bird; bill very warbler-like; hind claw 
elongated like that of the Longspur and the Horned Lark (Figure 60, p. 27, compare with 
Figure 44, p. 25). Adult spring male: greyish above, purest on head and growing slightly 
olive on rump; back faintly mottled with dark feather centres; pinkish buff below, with 
sparse fine breast stripes of brownish grey, tending to form a necklace across breast and 
extending along sides; wings brown with faded feather edges. Autumn birds and females 
im spring: even dull olive slightly mottled above; buffy white below with diffuse and 
more or less aggregated spots descending sides of throat and extending across breast and 
along flanks. 
Distinctions. The fine warbler-like bill together with the long hind claw are dis- 
tinctive. The only other birds with such a claw are the Horned Larks and the Lapland 
Longspur, but the horns of the one and the sparrow-like bill (Figure 51, p. 26) of the 
other make differentiation simple. 
Field Marks. A ground-coloured bird seen in the open in settled parts of Canada 
in the spring and autumn, often in large scattered flocks like the Snow Bunting and Horned 
Its even coloration, constant habit of tail dipping, and the conspicuous white 
outer tail feathers are good field marks. 
Nesting. On ground in nest of grasses. 
Disiribution. North America; breeding in high latitudes beyond the tree limits. 
A spring and late autumn migrant, occurring sometimes in large 
flocks and feeding in open meadows, ploughed fields, or on dry sandy 
uplands and shores. On its breeding grounds it has the Skylark-like habit 
of mounting and singing high in the air and descending in a perpendicular 
dive like a falling stone. 
Economic Status. Coming as it does while the fields are bare and 
returning after the harvest, its food is necessarily confined to weed seeds 
and early or belated insects. Its effect must be beneficial. 
FAMILY—MIMID#. MOCKERS AND THRASHERS. 
L. 8-94—11-42. 
_ The imitative faculty of the Mockingbird that has given the family 
its name is well developed in Canadian representatives. The family is 
peculiarly American and like many of the subdivisions of the order Passeres 
is difficult to diagnose in non-technical language. The birds are rather 
large, as shown by the above measurements. The Catbird and Mocking- 
bird are of even shades of stone-grey and the Thrasher bright rufous 
brown above with heavily spotted whitish or creamy underparts and an 
unusually long full tail. They are all good mockers and diversify their 
song with imitations of all the common sounds around them, including the 
songs of other birds, and are capable of effects that are rarely equalled by 
the most famous songsters of either the New or Old World. Any one of 
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