228 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



and their notes are feeble and monotonous. They moult in spring, 

 but hardly change their coloring at this time, or very slightly so ; 

 and the young of most are colored like their parents, though, in a 

 few, the pale edgings to the feathers assimilate them to the larks. 

 A few are migratory, others stationary. They are mostly inhabi- 

 tants of the Old World, only one or two true Pipits being found 

 in Australia, and in America, but there are two or three genera 

 in the latter country, which perhaps belong to this group. The 

 bill is thicker than in the Wagtails, elevated at the base. They 

 live chiefly on insects, but also cat grass seeds and other small 

 grain. 



There are at least three or four distant types now recognised 

 among the Pipits. 



1st. — The Tree-Pipits. 



Gen. Pipastes, Kaup. 



Syn. Dendronantlms, Blyth. 



Char. — Bill short, stout ; tarsus short ; hind claw short and 

 moderately curved. Plumage much spotted beneath. 



The Tree-Pipits frequent groves of trees, under which they feed ; 

 they perch readily, and when seated, have a peculiar motion of their 

 tail up and down. Mr. Blyth remarks that in confinement their 

 gait and manners are very different from those of the other Pipits, 

 being more deliberate. They are migratory, and social in the 

 winter. 



596. Pipastes agilis, Sykes. 



Anthus, apud Sykes, Cat. No. 88 — A maculatus, Hodgson — 

 A. arboreus, Jerdon, Cat, 141 — Blyth, Cat. 753— Horsf., Cat. 

 562 — MusaricM, Hind. — Khorasani chi/ri, of some Falconers — 

 LiJcu-jitta, Tel. i. e. Blind bird. 



The Indian Tree-Pipit. 



JDescr. — In winter plumage, above fine greenish olive, with 

 strongly marked dusky streaks on the crown, and some slight 

 dark centres to the dorsal feathers ; beneath white, with a faint 

 fulvous tinge, with large dark spots on the throat, breast, and flanks ; 

 wing-coverts dark brown ; the median, with yellowish white tips ; 



