217 



Field Marks. Colour is the most easily noted distinction but even in black silhouette 

 the manner in which the long tail is thrashed about soon becomes familiar and distinc- 

 tive. 



Nesting. In the crotch of a sapling in nest of fine strips of bark, fibres, and plant- 

 down lined with tendrils and fine rootlets and nearly always covered outside with silvery 

 bark strips. 



Distribution. North America north to the limit of large trees. Breeding in Canada 

 wherever found. 



The brilliancy of a high-plumaged Redstart against the dark green of 

 the trees is a constant source of pleasure to even the most blase - observer 

 and is a sight that never loses its charm. Its sprightly movements, con- 

 stant fluttering, and spreading of wings and tail give it a vivacity that few 

 other species exhibit. Like many other American birds the term Redstart 

 was given it by early settlers who bestowed upon it the name of a familiar 

 Old World form though the resemblance is far from close. 



FAMILY — MOTACILLIDiE. WAGTAILS AND PIPITS. 



Genus — Anthus. Pipits. 



There is only one species of this family in eastern Canada and for the 

 family characters the reader is referred to the specific description following. 



697. American Pipit, titlark, fr. — la farlotjse d'am^riqtjb. Anthus rvbescens. 

 L, 6-38. A ground-coloured and ground-haunting bird; bill very warbler-like; hind claw 

 elongated like that of the Longspur and the Horned Lark (Figure 60, p. 27, compare with 

 Figure 44, p. 25). Adult spring male: greyish above, purest on head and growing slightly 

 olive on rump; back faintly mottled with dark feather centres; pinkish buff below, with 

 sparse fine breast stripes of brownish grey, tending to form a necklace across breast and 

 extending along sides; wings brown with faded feather edges. Autumn birds and females 

 in spring: even dull olive slightly mottled above; buffy white below with diffuse and 

 more or less aggregated spots descending sides of throat and extending across breast and 

 along flanks. 



Distinctions. The fine warbler-like bill together with the long hind claw are dis- 

 tinctive. The only other birds with such a claw are the Horned Larks and the Lapland 

 Longspur, but the horns of the one and the sparrow-like bill (Figure 51, p. 26) of the 

 other make differentiation simple. 



Field Marks. A ground-coloured bird seen in the open in settled parts' of Canada 

 in the spring and autumn, often in large scattered flocks like the Snow Bunting and Horned 

 Lark. Its even coloration, constant habit of tail dipping, and the conspicuous white 

 outer tail feathers are good field marks. 



Nesting. On the ground in nest of grasses. 



Distribution. North America; breeding in high latitudes beyond the tree limits. 



A spring and late autumn migrant, occurring sometimes in large 

 flocks and feeding in open meadows, ploughed fields, or on dry sandy 

 uplands and shores. On its breeding grounds it has the skylark-like habit 

 of mounting and singing high in the air and descending in a perpendicular 

 dive like a falling stone. 



Economic Status. Coming as it does when the fields are bare, and 

 returning after the harvest, its food is necessarily confined to weed seeds 

 and early or belated insects. Its effect mu st be beneficial. 



