300 
2 
brown, conspicuously bordered and tipped with pale buff; tail blackish brown, the outermost rectrices 
with the larger portion of the inner web, from the tip extending obliquely towards the base, white, the 
outer web dirty grey at the tip, thence white nearly to the base, the next feather with a white spot 
on the inner web towards the tip, remaining rectrices bordered with rufous buff; entire throat, breast, 
lores, superciliary region, and to some extent the sides of the neck rich ferruginous, with the faintest 
wash of rosy red in some parts; rest of the underparts yellowish buff on the flanks, and here and 
there on the breast spotted with oval blackish brown markings ; legs fleshy brown; beak dark brown: 
iris brown. ‘Total length 5 inches, culmen 0°65, wing 3:3, tail 2°4, tarsus 0°9. 
Adult Female (Volga, May). Upper parts similar to the male, but rather greyer in shade of colour; the 
red does not, however, extend below the throat; lores and superciliary region pale rufous buff; breast 
and remainder of underparts white, washed with pale buff, and thickly spotted on the breast and flanks 
with blackish brown; soft parts as in the male. Culmen 0°6, wing 3:2, tail 24, tarsus 0°9. 
Winter plumage (Amoy, November). Closely resembles Anthus pratensis in that stage of plumage; and I 
find it most difficult to distinguish them, if indeed it can be done; as a rule the present species is more 
spotted on the underparts, and has the spots somewhat larger; a specimen from Constantinople, shot 
on the 15th of December, which J have figured, has some slight remains of the red throat. 
Obs. After having examined a large series of specimens in full breeding-plumage, I can detect no difference 
between examples from various parts of the Palearctic Region. As a rule, males from China are some- 
what more richly coloured on the throat and breast than those from more western localities ; but I have 
before me a male, collected in Lapland by Professor Newton, which is quite as richly coloured as the 
average of Chinese specimens, and from Egypt I have several as brightly coloured as any in the series. 
The females appear in general to have the rufous coloration only on the throat, and to have the breast 
strongly spotted; but Mr. Collett informs me that he finds but little difference in the plumage of the 
sexes. Some of the males in the series before me differ greatly in the amount of rufous on the under- 
parts, as also in the amount of spotting on the breast and the upper portion of the flanks. In size 
there is no appreciable difference in examples from the various localities in Europe, Africa, and Asia. 
THs species, by earlier writers considered to be identical with our Common Meadow-Pipit 
(Anthus pratensis), has a most extensive range, being found throughout Europe, in Northern 
Africa (and Canon Tristram sends me a specimen said to have been obtained as far south as 
Madagascar), and throughout Asia, from Northern Siberia down to Japan, China, and the Anda- 
man Islands. In America it has not been met with. 
It has been included in our British list; but the reasons for calling it a British bird are not 
very valid. Mr. F. Bond possesses a specimen said to have been obtained on the island of Unst, 
but he is unable to give any information as to who procured it there. He very kindly brought 
the specimen in question to me for examination; and I was able to ascertain from personal 
inspection that it is in full breeding-plumage, and probably a female. Mr. Bond informs me 
that he obtained it out of the collection of the late Mr. Troughton, after his death, without any 
particulars. On the original label is written, “ Red Pipit, A. rufigularis (var. of pratensis), Isl. 
Unst, May 4th, 1854.” Another Pipit in Mr. Bond’s collection, obtained near Freshwater, is by 
Mr. Harting (Handbook of B. Birds, p. 109) referred to as being A. cervinus; but Mr. Bond 
informs me that it is certainly not a Red-throated Pipit. Ihave not had an opportunity of 
personally inspecting this latter specimen. 
