PASSERINE. 285 
pastures, and pursue insects among the cattle. The most com- 
mon is, 
Mot. flava; Bergeronnette de printems; Enl., 674, 2. Ash- 
coloured above, olive on the back, yellow beneath; the eyebrow 
and two-thirds of the lateral quills of the tail, white.(1) 
Antuus, Bechst. 
The Meadow Larks were long united to the Larks (Alauda), on ac- 
count of the long nail of their thumb; but their slender and emarginated 
beak approximates them to the other Warblers, at the same time that 
their secondary quills and coverts, which are as short as usual, will 
not allow them to be confounded with Budytes. Those which still 
have the nail somewhat arcuated are in the habit of perching. 
A. arboreus, Bechst.; Alauda trivialis and minor, Gm.; the 
Pipi; Enl. 660, 13(2) Naum. 84, 2, Roux. Olive-brown above, 
reddish-grey beneath; breast spotted with black; two pale, trans- 
verse bands on the wing. 
The thumb nail of others is exactly that of an alauda, and they ge- 
nerally remain on the ground. 
A. pratensis, Bech. ; 4lauda pratensis, Gm.; Alouette depré, Enl. 
661, 23(3) Naum. 84, 3 and 85, 1. Olive-brown above, whitish 
beneath; brown spots on the breast and flanks; whitish eye- 
brows; edges of the external quills of the tail, white. It prefers 
low or inundated meadows, and builds among reeds and tufts 
of grass. It becomes excessively fat in autumn by feeding on 
grapes, and is sought for at that period in France by the name 
of Bec-figue and Vinette.(4) 
We will terminate this family of the Dentirostres with some 
birds distinguished from all preceding ones by their two exter- 
nal toes, which are united at base for about a third of their 
length, a circumstance which approximates them to the family 
of the Syndactyli. 
(1) Add the Mot. boarula, L. Edw., 259, and Vieill. Gal. 162. 
(2) Under the false name of Faurlowse; the Pivote ortolane, Buff. Enl. 642, 2 (Mo- 
* tacilla maculata, Gm.), is the young bird. See Roux, 288. 
(3) Improperly called Alouette pipi; Nauman refers this figure to his Anthus 
aquaticus, of which he thinks it is the young male. We may observe that the 
synonymes of this subgenus are not less obscure tian those of the Fauvettes. 
(4) Add the Anthus aquaticus, Naum., 85, 2, 34;—La Rousseline, (Anth. Cam- 
_ pestris), Enl. 661, 1; Naum., 84, 1; or Mauda mosellana, Lath. of which the young 
is called Fist in Provence, Enl. 654, 1 (Motac. massiliensis, Gm.) See Roux, p.- 
292 ;—the Anth. Richardi, Vieill. Id. 101, and Roux, 189, 190. Among those 
foreign to Europe place the Alauda capensis, Enl. 504, 2;—.Al. rufa, Tb. 238, 13 
pprobably the rubra, Edw., 297 ;—.Anthus rufulus, Vieill. Gal. 161. 
me. 
