THE ROCK PIPIT. 247 



plumage well in the cage. All the latter, too, are 

 very snappish in confinement towards other birds, 

 a trait of character which is not observable in the 

 tree pipit." Our bird is the tit-lark of the London 

 birdcatchers, and in Germany it is frequently 

 caught in October in great numbers, by nets, 

 in the oat-fields, where it then congregates in 

 flocks. 



The tree pipit has two broods in the season. 

 Tt makes a nest of grasses and other stems, 

 mingled with moss and hair, which it hides under 

 a bush or a tuft of foliage. Four or five eggs may 

 be found in it, of a gi'eyish-white colour, dashed 

 with brown. Mr. Blyth says that this bird is re- 

 markable for the loose hold of its feathers, which, 

 if the bird is handled, come out more easily than 

 tliose of any other. 



Another species, the Hock Pipit* [Anthus petro- 

 sus), is a resident bird, and a very frequent one, 

 and being abundant only on the rocky shores of 

 our island, is often called the sea-lark or rock- 



* The Rock Pipit is six inches and three quarters in length. 

 It is scarcely to be distinguished from the two preceding species, 

 except by the superiority of size, and by the greater length and 

 curvature of the hind claw ; the breast, however, is rather clouded 

 than spotted with brown. 



