THE PIPIT. 127 



and worms, and never seeds, as is the case with the 

 larks. 



At least three species of pipit are found in Britain. 

 The meadow pipit, tit, or titling, (anthus pratensis),.o 

 which it appears that some of the elder naturalists 

 made two distinct species, in consequence of a little 

 seasonal variation in its colour, it being the pipit-lark in 

 the one dress, and the tit-lark in the other. This sea- 

 sonal difference in the colours and note of birds that re- 

 side with us during the whole year, often proves a stum- 

 bling-block not only to young naturalists, but to those 

 who observe in the fields and study in the closet at 

 intervals. The songs of the birds in spring, their dis- 

 persion at that time, in order that each pair may find 

 food for their broods, the varied and curious architec- 

 ture of the nests, the instances of paternal attachment 

 they display, and the hard battles that even very small 

 birds will fight in defence of their young ; all tend to 

 call the ornithologist to the fields. In autumn, again 

 when the birds are free from care, except for their own 

 subsistence, which, as long as the ground is free from 

 snow, is abundant and easily found, congregate into 

 flocks, and whirl round in their dense clouds along the 

 stubble they are objects of interest. But in the inter- 

 mediate period when they are " dressing for company/' 

 they are weak and unfit for flight, and, therefore, seldom 

 seen, so that unless to very careful observers, its iden- 

 tity is at that time apt to be lost. Implicit confidence 

 is not to be placed in the observations made upon birds 

 in a state of confinement, whether in a solitary cage or 

 an aviary. If any animal be taken out of its natural 

 state, there is no trusting to its colour, or even its dis- 



