MEADOW-PIPIT 109 



not only in appearance, but also in habits, language, and flight, 

 and that they are so widely distributed on the globe, being found 

 both on continents and oceanic islands, it may be inferred that the 

 modest earth-loving pipit represents the original form from which 

 the wagtails have sprung. 



Of our three species, the meadow-pipit is by far the most nume- 

 rous, being found in all open situations, moist or dry, meadow 

 and waste-land, moor and mountain- side, and close by the sea, 

 where one can listen to meadow-pipit and rock-pipit singing together, 

 or alternately, like birds of one species, and compare the two songs, 

 that are so much alike. This species is, moreover, to be met with 

 in all parts of our country, from the warm Hampshire and Dorset 

 coasts to the western islands of Scotland; .but while in the main a 

 resident all the year round in the southern parts of the country, in 

 the bleak and barren districts of the farther north he is migratory, 

 and moves southward in winter in considerable flocks. 



The meadow-pipit seeks his food on the ground, and moves 

 nimbly about in search of minute beetles, caterpillars, and seeds, 

 pausing at intervals to stand motionless for a few seconds, with head 

 raised and tail slowly moving up and down. When approached he 

 displays a curious mixture of timidity and tameness, and eyes the 

 intruder with suspicion, but flies with reluctance. The flight is a 

 succession of jerky movements, the bird rising and falling in a 

 somewhat wild, erratic manner. 



In the love season the male pipit occasionally takes his stand 

 on a weed or low bush ; but on moors, hills, and stony waste lands 

 he prefers a stone or mound of earth for a perch. From such an 

 elevation he is able to keep watch on the movements of his mate, 

 and, when the singing spirit takes him, to launch himself easily on 

 the air. To sing he soars up to a height of forty feet or more, then 

 glides gracefully down, with tail spread and wings half-closed and 

 motionless, presenting the figure of a barbed arrow-head. In his 

 descent he emits a series of notes with little or no variation in 

 them, slightly metallic in sound, and very pleasing. These notes 

 are occasionally repeated as the bird sits motionless on the ground. 



In describing bird-melody it is sometimes borne in on us that 

 all that has, or can be, said about the song of any species is not 

 only inadequate, but in a sense even false, inasmuch as a single 

 song of an individual is described as compared with that of some 

 other, usually nearly related, species. Thus, the meadow-pipit's 

 song is said to be less rich and varied, and in every way inferior to 



