5 
on a bunch of heath, or some other conspicuous tuft of herbage, where it may be recognized at 
once by its monotonous note, which I can best express by the syllables zer-vee. This bird is 
especially common on the undulating prairie country, half rock, half grass, and half heath, 
between Athens and Marathon; and there is no difficulty in obtaining its eggs in this district. 
It was too early in the season’when I was in this part of Greece; but I have several sittings 
which were collected in the neighbourhood of Kephissia whilst I was in the Parnassus.” 
It occurs in Southern Germany; Seidensacher observed it in Styria; and Dr. Anton Fritsch 
records it (J. f. O. 1871, p. 191) as found in Bohemia, and he met with several pairs breeding 
near Schlan and Laun. Mr. Lokaj observed it near Rumburg. It appears to be not uncommon, 
and is said to breed near Constantinople; and Von Nordmann records it as very common in the 
steppes of Southern Russia. 
Mr. Robson has sent specimens from Asia Minor; and Canon Tristram met with it in 
Palestine, where, he writes (Ibis, 1866, p. 289) it is “found all over the cultivated coast and 
hill districts, but not in the Jordan valley. It is a permanent resident, and we obtained several 
nests on the ground on the bare hills in April. It is one of the tamest of birds, and particularly 
affects the mule-paths, flitting along in front of the traveller and keeping unconcernedly a few 
yards ahead. In winter a few of them may generally be seen consorting with the more numerous 
Galerita cristata.” Mr. Wyatt met with it on the peninsula of Sinai; and Captain Clark- 
Kennedy informs me that “in the month of April this Pipit was to be seen in great quantities 
along the shores of the Red Sea all the way from Suez to Mount Sinai. It appeared to prefer 
localities not more than a few miles distant from the sea, although we met with it far inland and 
in some numbers near Nukl, halfway from Sinai to Jerusalem, and from there to Damascus.” 
It is common in North-east Africa, and, according to Captain Shelley (B. of Eg. p. 134), “is 
abundantly distributed throughout Egypt and Nubia. It is an early spring visitant, arriving 
about the middle of February. It chiefly frequents the confines of the desert, where its plumage 
harmonizes with the colour of the sand, and renders it difficult to be seen.” Captain Clark- 
Kennedy informs me that he met with it abundantly all the way up the Nile from Cairo into 
Nubia, and in especial abundance in the sandy desert near Assouan and the pyramids of Abousir 
and Sakarra. Dr. Th. von Heuglin writes (Orn. N.O.-Afr. p. 325) that it occurs in the autumn 
in Abyssinia, Senaar, and at Kordofan, and he himself observed it on the lower White Nile and 
in Southern Arabia. In North-western Africa it is likewise common, and, according to Major 
Loche, resident, frequenting sandy districts in Algeria, where Mr. Taczanowski also records it as 
numerous on the elevated plateaux between Constantine and Batna, but never saw it in the 
Sahara. Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., however, writes (Ibis, 1871, p. 85) that “in some places the 
soil of the Sahara is soft and sandy, in others hard and pebbly. The Tawny Pipit affects the 
former, where there is little or no herbage. It appears to be a very solitary bird, and not 
common. Its flight is undulating, like that of the Wagtail; and, like the latter, it twitters on 
the wing.” Mr. Osbert Salvin met with it on the plateau of Kef Laks, and numerous about the 
plains of Djendeli. I possess a specimen from Tangiers; and, according to Hartlaub (Om. W. 
Afr. p. 73), it has occurred at Cazamanze. Mr. Sharpe possesses a specimen obtained by the late 
Mr. Andersson in Damaraland, which is as far south in Africa as I can trace it; but on the 
eastern side of that continent it has been recorded by Captain Sperling (Ibis, 1868, p. 290) as 
