326 



INSECT1VOILE. 



and besides, the pipit sometimes lights on a hedge, the sky- 

 lark never ; the larks remain over the rich fields, the pipits 

 retire to the wilds, and continue their song there. The nest 

 is on the ground in a tuft, the eggs are never more than six, 

 sometimes light and sometimes dark brown with reddish- 

 brown specks. The bird runs swiftly, catches insects and 

 worms readily, and is very industrious in the feeding of its 

 own young ; and also in feeding the young cuckoo, which, it 

 is said, is often committed to its care. There is one point 

 in the curiously anomalous history of the cuckoo, which has 

 not been so well authenticated as the rest (and these may be 

 the exceptions, not the rule, as they are not evidence of one 

 to ten thousand of the cases) ; and that is, whether the male 

 falls into the same dupery as the female, and aids in rearing 

 the cuckoo. The domestic cock scorns to assist in rearing 

 a brood of ducklings, even when they have been hatched by 

 his favourite hen; and it would be curious to ascertain 

 whether the males of those birds that hatch and feed the 

 cuckoo, are equally zealous for the honour of their species. 

 But the point can be settled by observation only experi- 

 ment takes animals out of nature ; and so there is an end to 

 all legitimate conclusion. The meadow-pipit is the titling in 

 many places. 



THE SHORE-PIPIT (Anfhus aquaticus). 



The shore-pipit is considerably larger than the meadow 

 species. It is seven inches long, nearly a foot in the stretch 

 of the wings, and weighs about seven drachms, and the upper 

 part is without the greenish tinge, and the under has a brace 

 of dull ochre yellow. The breast also is browner, the vent 

 whiter, and the bill is yellow at the base. The hind claw is 

 also more curved and shorter in proportion. 



This bird, as its name imports, inhabits the sea shores, 

 especially where there are beaches of sand or mud, from which 



