622 COETDALLA EICHAEDI. 



Winter (Ceylon). Above sepia-brown; head and back more or less deeply margined with oehreous grey or brownish 

 buff, the edgings on the back of the neck generally paler than elsewhere ; wings and tail deeper brown than the 

 back; the tertials, major wing-coverts, and centre tail-feathers boldly margined with brownish buff: outer 

 primary with a white edge ; lateral tail-feathers white, except at the base of inner web : the next pair with more 

 brown on the inner web, and the next with a white outer edge ; above the eye a broad streak of buff ; lores and 

 face mingled oehreous and brown, with a dark streak on the lower part of the cheek ; beneath buff-white, the 

 chin paler than the fore neck : a dark stripe on each side of the throat ; chest and flanks washed with fulvous, 

 the former with dark centres to the feathers ; under wing buff, the longer feathers rufescent at the tips. 



Obs. This species is said to have a summer plumage which is darker and more distinctly edged than that of the winter 



bird. I have not 1 n able to detect much difference myself. An example shot in May at Galle, just on the 



point of leaving for northern parts, is no darker than winter specimens, although the edgings of the upper- 

 surface feathers are more ochraeeous ; new feathers are being acquired on the chest, which are more fulvous than 

 the old ones. One autumn Heligoland example is sorra irhai darker than my winter series from Ceylon ; but this 

 may be a local peculiarity. 



Yuii,ai (nestling : Yenesay, mus. Seebohru). Centres of head-feathers very dark brown, the margins rufescent; baek- 

 featl.ers narrowly edged with whitish : wing-coverts very broadly margined with whitish and rufous ; outer tail- 

 feathers, with the base of the inner web blackish, sloping to a point at an inch from the tip, the adjacent pair 

 blackish, the tip of the inner web white, running up the web; ear-eovcrts fulvous ; a broad, dark, complete stripe 

 down each side of the throat : the chest and fore neck with broad, blackish, central, drop-shaped markings. 



Immature birds in Ceylon have the legs duskier than the adults : lores not so dark ; the edgings of the upper surface 

 paler, the centre of the back not presenting that uniform appearance which old birds have ; the throat less 

 fulvescent, the stripes on each side conspicuous, and the stria? of the chest more pronounced. 



06s. Examples of this Pipit vary somewhat according to locality. Some specimens from China are particularly dark; 

 and the hind claws and bills of these Eastern birds seem to be shorter than those from Europe and India. In five 

 specimens the claw varies from O-A to 0-7 inch : the wings from 3 - 7 to 3 - 8 ; tail from 3"3 to 3 - 4 ; bill from gape 

 to tip 0*75 to - 8. Two adults from Heligoland, with shorter wings (3-5 to 3-6 inches), measure each in the bill 

 0-8, and in the hind claw 0*62 and 0-7 respectively. The chests in the China birds have the same fulvous wash on 

 the chest and the same softened brown stripes that our winter birds in Ceylon have. A specimen from Siam 

 corresponds exactly with these Chinese birds. 



Dr. Armstrong gives the dimensions of examples shot in the Irrawaddy delta as — wings 3-45 to 3-7 inches, bill 

 from gape - 8 to 085 ; Mr. Cripps of Eurreedpore specimens — length 7"75 to 8-16 inches, wings 3"5 to 3 - 75, bill 

 from gape - 76 to 0'86, hind claw 0*7 to 0'83. A Tarkand bird shot by Dr. Scully measures — length 8*0 inches, 

 wing 3 - 95, tail 3 - 3, bill from gape 0-85. The majority of these Indian birds appear to exceed slightly those I 

 have examined from Europe ; but I have not seen a large series of the latter. Mr. Brooks, in his table of 

 measurements of this and ft siriolata (Str. Feath. i. p. 360), gives the hind claw at 065 to 0-7. 



Distribution. — This large Pipit is migratory to Ceylon, arriving at the beginning of October and departing 

 as late as the middle of -May, about which time I have procured examples in the Galle district. It is widely 

 diffused through the low country, affecting chiefly the maritime regions. It is particularly numerous on 

 the pastures lying on both banks of the Yirgel, and likewise on the open lands and grass-cheenas to the 

 south of Batticaloa. In the west it is abundant at Puttalam, Negombo, Colombo, and other places on the coast. 

 In the south it is frequently met with about Galle and Matara, but becomes scarcer towards the east. It is 

 probable that the large species of Pipit I observed in the Hambantota district belonged to this species and not to 

 I '. striolata. In the Central Province it inhabits some of the lower highlands and patnas ; but I do not know- 

 that it ranges to any altitude. It is common all through the Jaffna peninsula and in the islands adjacent. 



Wc may safely assume that this Pipit is only a eold-weathcr visitant to the whole of India, as Mr. Hume 

 states ; though it breeds at Ladak it does not do so at Simla, nor, I conclude, at any station on the southern 

 slopes of the range. Jerdon sketches out its distribution in India as follows :—" It is found from Nepal 

 and the Himalayas to the extreme south ; more rare in Southern India, especially in the Carnatic, but 

 tolerably common, indeed abundant, in Lower Bengal. It is also found in Burmah and other countries to 

 the eastward." As regards the various localities here referred to, we find that of late years Mr. Ball records 



