654 The Sparrow-like Birds 



the winter in the Gulf States, Mexico, and Central America. To the bird-lover 

 in almost every portion of the United States they are familiar birds, as they pass 

 through in the late fall and on the return journey in early spring. They fre- 

 quent open places especially near the seacoasts, but pastures, old fields, recently 

 burned or plowed fields in the interior are almost sure to harbor them. At this 

 season they are thoroughly gregarious, going in small or large flocks and spend- 

 ing their entire time on the ground or on the wing. When feeding they are often 

 somewhat scattered, but on a common signal they all rise together with a soft, 

 querulous cry dee-dee, dee-dee and either fly away to a great distance or as 

 often settle within a few yards of where they rose. Their nests, of which there 

 are often several in the immediate neighborhood, are placed on the ground under 

 tufts of grass in meadows or marshes, and are made of grass and moss; the four 

 to six eggs are grayish in color, heavily spotted and blotched with brown. 



Sprague's Pipit. Very distinctively American is Sprague's Pipit, or the 

 Missouri Skylark (A. spragueii), a common bird of the interior plains, where 

 it breeds abundantly as far north as the Saskatchewan district, and in winter 

 retires to the table-lands of Mexico. Of its habits and marvelous song, 

 lean do no better than quote from Dr. Coues: "The ordinary straight 

 forward flight of the bird is performed with a regular rising and falling, like 

 that of the Titlark; but its course, when startled from the ground, is exceed- 

 ingly rapid and wayward; at such times, after the first alarm, they are wont 

 to hover around in a desultory manner for a considerable time, and then 

 pitch suddenly down to the ground, often near where they rose. Under such 

 circumstances they have a lisping, querulous note. But the common traits have 

 nothing to do with the wonderful soaring action and the inimitable, matchless 

 song of the birds during the breeding season. Rising from the nest, or from its 

 grassy bed, this plain-looking little bird, clad in the simplest of colors and mak- 

 ing but a speck in the boundless expanse, mounts straight up, on tremulous 

 wings, till lost to view in the blue ether, and sends back to earth a song of glad- 

 ness that seems to come from the sky itself. No other bird-music heard in our 

 land compares with the wonderful strains of this songster; there is something not 

 of earth in the melody, coming from above, yet from no visible source. The 

 notes are simply indescribable; their volume and penetration are truly wonder- 

 ful; they are neither loud nor strong, yet the whole air seems filled with the 

 tender strains, and the delightful melody continues unbroken. The song is only 

 heard for a brief period in the summer, and is only uttered while the birds are 

 soaring." Their nests are placed on the ground under an upturned sod or in a 

 tussock of grass, and are composed of fine grasses; their three or four eggs are 

 similar to those of the Titlark though slightly larger. 



Old World Pipits. The twenty or more Old World Pipits are all very much 

 alike in plumage and to a large extent their habits are similar, though there are 

 some differences in the nature of the localities chosen by the various species. 

 Thus the Meadow Pipit, or European Titlark (A. pratensis}, and its near relative, 

 the Water Pipit (A. japonicus), is found in situations similar to those frequented 

 by our species, that is, in open fields and meadows, and, like our Sprague's Pipit, 



