INSESSORES. ANTHUS. 257 



upper parts of the body darker, and more inclining to 

 oil-green ; throat yellowish- white ; and the yellow of the 

 belly of a less vivid hue than in the male bird. 



Genus ANTHUS, Bechst. PIPIT. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



Bill straight, slender, rather subulated towards the point, 

 having the base of the upper mandible carinated, and the tip 

 slightly bent downwards, and emarginated. Tomia of both 

 mandibles compressed inwards about the middle. Nostrils 

 basal, lateral, and oval, partly concealed by a membrane. 

 Feet, with the tarsus generally exceeding the middle toe in 

 length ; toes three before, and one behind, and with the outer 

 toe adhering to the middle one as far as the first joint ; hind 

 claw more or less produced. Wings having the first quill 

 very short, and the second rather shorter than the third and 

 fourth, which are of equal length, and the longest in each 

 wing. Two of the scapulars produced, and equal to the 

 quills in length, when the wing is closed. 



It is but lately that this genus has been separated by 

 Bechstein and Temminck from that of Alauda, in which 

 it was included by the earlier systematists, and where, from 

 inattention to its more direct affinities, it had been unaccount- 

 ably allowed to remain by succeeding ornithologists. 



In the conical form of the head, and general characters of 

 the bill and legs, as well as in a striking similarity of man- 

 ners, the birds of this genus show their immediate connexion 

 with the Wagtails. Their food is of the same nature, viz. 

 insects and worms. They build upon the ground, and ap- 

 pear subject to a trifling change of plumage in the spring, 

 confined principally to the region of the head and throat. 



VOL. I. H 



