COBYDALLA RUFULA. 



(THE COMMON PIPIT.) 



Anthus rufuhis, Vieill. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. xxvi. p. 494 (1818) ; Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. 



B. p. 135 (1849); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1853, xii. p. 268; Horsf. & Moore, 



Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. i. p. 356 (1854). 

 Corydalla rufula, Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 121 (1852) ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. ii. p. 232 



(1863); Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 458; Hume, Nests and Eggs, ii. p. 384 (1874); Ball, 



Str. Feath. 1874, p. 416 ; Hume, ibid. 1875, p. 142 ; Brooks, t. c. p. 252 ; Butler & 



Hume, t. c. p. 490; Fairbank, Str. Feath. 1876, p. 260; Armstrong, t. c. p. 330; 



Bourdillon & Hume, t. c. p. 401 ; Hume, t. c. p. 458 ; Fairbank, ibid. 1877, p. 407 ; 



Hume & Davison, B. of Tenass., ibid. 1878, p. 366 ; Ball, ibid. vii. p. 220 ; Cripps, 



t. c. p. 288. 

 The Indian Titlark, Jerdon. Bugel, Hind.; Chachari, Hind, at Monghyr; Gurapa-madi 



pitta, Telugu ; Pastro marello, Portuguese ; Meta Mlie, lit. " Long Legs," Tamils. 



Adult male and female. Length 6-2 to 6-75 inches; wing 3-0 to 3-3 ; tail 2-5 ; tarsus 1-1 ; middle toe and claw 0-8 ; 

 hind toe 0-4, claw 0-45 to 0-52 ; bill to gape 0-75 to 0-8. This species varies much in size. The claw is straight, 

 like that of C. riclmrdi. 



Iris dark brown, olive-brown, or earth-brown ; bill, upper mandible dark brown, gape fleshy, lower mandible fleshy, 

 with dark tip ; legs and feet fleshy grey, joints darkish, claws brown. 



Iu general character this bird is very similar to Richard's Pipit, of which it is a miniature, differing structurally also in 

 its shorter hind claws. The margins of the upper plumage ai*e perhaps, as a rule, more clearly defined than in 

 the larger bird, and the broad edgings of the wing-coverts and tertials more tawny in hue ; but, at the same time, 

 the character of these markings is subject to variation ; the penultimate has the brown portion of the inner web, 

 as a rule, more extensive than in the large bird ; the buff supercilium, ear-coverts, and cheeks are similar, but the 

 streak at the side of the throat is, in low-country birds, less clearly defined ; chest and flanks washed with ful- 

 vescent, the former streaked, and the under tail-coverts tinged, with buff, as in C. richardi. 



Some individuals from the patnas in the upper hills are very tawny in general hue, and have the tail darker than in 

 low-country birds ; the stripe running down from the bill on each side of the throat is also bolder, and the bill 

 very large in some, — in a Horton-Plains specimen it is 0-8 inch, quite as large as any Richard's Pipit ; the wing 

 measures only 3-3, and the hind claw 0-5 ; the anterior claws are very long, the middle one 026. In fact, had I 

 large series exhibiting throughout the same character, it would, I think, be justifiable to separate the hill-race as 

 distinct. An example from Lindula patnas measures — wing 3-2, hind claw 052. 



The edgings of the feathers above are very ochraceous, as is also the entire colour of the under surface. 



Young. Immature birds of the year scarcely differ from adults ; the feathers are perhaps rounder on the head, as in 

 the Larks, and the centre tail-feathers rather conspicuously edged with buff. 



This species moults completely in September and October, but only the clothing-feathers before breeding. It has a 

 strong propensity towards albinism : examples may occasionally be seen with two or three white feathers in the 

 tail ; and I possess one in which the terminal portions of all the clothiug-feathers above, most of the central tail- 

 feathers and tertials, and the entire occiput are pure white. 



Obs. The same variation in size appears to exist in continental members of this species ; and this fact exposes a 

 propensity in its nature which makes it unsafe to try any expedient of dividing it into races. Many such uncer- 

 tain birds exist, and they are, perhaps, better left alone, to enjoy an undisturbed and intimate relationship with 

 one another. Mr. Hume, in dealing with Mr. Bourdillon's specimens from the Travancore hills, says that local 

 races differ as much as those of Alauda gulgula, the Indian Sky-Lark. In the southern examples, he remarks, the 

 bills are longer and slenderer, the hind claw shorter, and the markings of the upper surface better defined and more 

 pronounced. As regards size from various localities, Dr. Armstrong records the wing of an Irrawaddy specimen 



4L 



