THE TREE PIPIT. i47 



sometimes glide from one tree to another. And thus he 

 continues soaring, warbling, and gliding, the livelong 

 day, occasionally visiting the ground for sustenance, or 

 even sallying out into the air to catch the passing 

 insects. The Tree Pipit often warbles on his perch, but 

 it will invariably be found that he does not utter his full 

 song unless when on the wing. It would thus seem 

 that aerial motions are requisite for this graceful little 

 chorister to utter those lovely notes which we hear him 

 warble when in the circumambient air. 



By the latter end of April the Tree Pipit is found in 

 the company of his mate, who, by the way, spends the 

 greater part of her time on the ground. He is now a 

 wanderer no more. Connected by the closest ties, he 

 remains near the field destined to contain his nest until 

 the young are strong upon the wing. The site of the 

 nest is always on the ground, frequently in a grass field, 

 though sometimes you will find it amongst the corn or 

 up the side of a hedgerow. A little hole is scratched 

 in the ground, and dry grass, moss, and hair are speedily 

 formed into a little home. Puzzling indeed will the 

 young naturalist find the eggs of this bird. They vary, 

 ay, almost as much so as the Guillemot's beautiful eggs, 

 so commonly met with on all our rocky coasts. But 

 eggs in the same nests are similar. Should you find 

 eggs dull white, boldly spotted and blotched with purple 

 of different shades, all the eggs in the nest are similar ; 

 should you find eggs dark olive-green, with brown 

 markings, none of the other varieties are observable 

 amongst them ; or if you notice eggs dull white, mottled 

 all over with reddish-purple, the larger end beino- so 

 thickly coloured as to hide the ground colour, all in that 

 nest will be similar in tint. I have noticed, too, that 

 the darker coloured eggs are found in dark situations, as 



