" The male helps the female in the work of feeding the chicks." 



THE TREE PIPIT 



A 



FTER all that has been 

 written and said during the 

 last century upon British 

 birds, I think I am quite 

 safe in stating that nine 

 hundred and ninety-nine 

 people out of every thou- 

 sand living in the heart of 

 the country are unable to distinguish 

 the Tree Pipit from its relative the 

 Meadow Pipit, even when both species 

 breed in proximity, and, let me hasten 

 to add, it is not an easy matter. 



The Tree Pipit is a trifle larger, has 

 fewer and more extended spots on the 

 breast and a shorter hind claw than its 

 congener, but these differences are not 

 very apparent unless the birds can be 

 compared in hand or in captivity. They 

 both walk, run, and wag their tails like 

 the other members of their family, but, 



when we arrive at a consideration of 

 their breeding haunts and eggs, we dis- 

 cover a number of helpful differences. 

 The species under notice never breeds 

 far from trees of some kind and gen- 

 erally in cultivated districts, whereas the 

 Meadow Pipit is found nesting most 

 numerously in wild treeless moorland 

 parts of the country. The eggs of the 

 former species, although subject to 

 considerable variation, generally exhibit 

 a warm purplish tint, which is not found 

 in those of the latter. 



The male Tree Pipit is an accom- 

 plished vocalist, and adds to the interest 

 of his song by his peculiar method of 

 delivering it. Rising from the topmost 

 twig of some favourite tree he com- 

 mences with a repeated note, sounding 

 something like the word chee-chee-chee- 

 chee, and when he has reached an altitude 



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