518 ANTHUS 



323. TAWNY PIPIT. 

 ANTHUS CAMPESTRIS. 



Anthus campestr-is, (Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 288 (1766) ; Naum. iii. p. 745, 

 Taf. 84, fig. 1 .; Gould, B. of Gt. Brit. iii. pi. 9 ; Newton, i. p. 592 ; 

 Dresser, iii. p. 317, pi. 137 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. x. p. 569 ; 

 Saunders, p. 137 ; Lilford, iii. p. 127, pi. 65. 



Pipit roussoline, French ; Petinha, Portug. ; Calandrina, 

 Span. ; Calandro, Ital. ; JBrackpieper, German ; Duinpieper, 

 Dutch ; Markpiber, Dan. ; Faltpipldrka, Swed. ; Kangas-kirvinen 

 Finn. ; Stepnaya-skevreska, Russ. ; CJiillu, Hindu. 



ad. (Portugal). Upper parts ochreous sandy brown tinged with 

 grey, indistinctly striped with dark brown ; rump paler and less marked 

 but the upper tail-coverts more distinctly striped ; wings and tail blackish 

 brown the former margined with ochreous buff, middle tail-feathers 

 margined with tawny ochre and the two outer ones yellowish white, on 

 the inner web bordered with blackish brown ; supercilium and sides of 

 face yellowish white the latter marked with dull brown ; lores dark brown, 

 the throat, breast, and under parts rich isabelline, washed with rufous and 

 indistinctly spotted with pale brown on the breast ; bill blackish brown 

 above, dull yellowish at the base below ; legs yellowish brown ; iris dark 

 brown. Culmen 0*7, wing 375, tail 3'2, tarsus TO, hind toe with claw 07 

 inch. Sexes alike. 



Hcib. Europe, rare as far north as Great Britain and Scandi- 

 navia; western Siberia, Afghanistan, and Turkestan, wintering 

 in northern Africa, and the plains of north-west India. 



Frequents sterile, sandy plains, and also to some extent, 

 cultivated ground, and is restless and uneasy in its habits, and 

 runs with ease like a Lark, moving its tail slightly when halting, 

 somewhat after the manner of a Wagtail. Its call-note is 

 monotonous, resembling the syllables zer-vee, and its song, which 

 is weak and poor, is uttered whilst it is on the wing. Its food 

 consists of insects of various kinds, very seldom of seeds. It 

 breeds late in May, its nest being placed on the ground and 

 constructed of dry grass -bents and rootlets, lined with fine roots 

 or horsehair. The eggs, 5 to 6 in number, are blue grey, 

 marked with umber-brown or brownish grey, closely and 

 minutely spotted with reddish brown. In size they average 

 about 0'82 by 0'62. 



