330 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Newton and Dresser regard them as one species ; but in autumn plumage 

 the two birds are very distinct. The eastern form, A. maculatus, has the 

 general colour of the upper parts very much greener, and the dark centres 

 of the feathers of the back are almost obsolete. In spring plumage they 

 resemble each other very closely, and in summer much more so — a fact which 

 has given rise to much confusion between them. It is not known that 

 any intermediate forms occur. 



The Tree-Pipit breeds in Northern and Central Europe, and in Western 

 Siberia as far east as Krasnoyarsk. In Norway it extends as far north as 

 lat. 69°, in the valley o£ the Petchora to about lat. 65°, and in the Ural 

 Mountains and the valley of the Yenesay to lat. 62°. South of these 

 limits it is a summer visitor throughout Europe north of the Pyrenees and 

 the Balkans, and eastwards throughout Turkestan as far as the Altai 

 Mountains. In Spain, Portugal, and Italy it is principally known as a 

 winter visitor, but a few remain to breed on the mountains. It passes 

 through Greece and Asia Minor on migration, and winters in Palestine, 

 Egypt, Nubia, Abyssinia, and Algeria, and has been recorded from Africa 

 as far south as Caffreland. The eastern Tree-Pipit breeds throughout 

 Siberia south of lat. 63° and east of Krasnoyarsk. It also breeds in Japan. 

 It passes through Mongolia on migration, and winters in China, Burma, 

 and India. 



Although the Tree-Pipit bears a very close resemblance to the Meadow- 

 Pipit, it may generally be distinguished, even on the wing, by its slightly 

 longer tail and larger size. The Meadow-Pipit does not perch much on 

 trees, hence its hind claw is long and comparatively straight, whilst 

 that of the Tree-Pipit is short and curved to enable it to perch securely 

 on the branches. In spite of these distinctions, and the great difference 

 in the haunts and the eggs of the two birds, they were very often 

 confused together by early ornithologists. So far as is known, the Tree- 

 Pipit was first distinguished from the Meadow-Pipit by Francis Jessop, 

 of Sheffield, who carefully pointed out the differences between the two 

 species to Mr. Willughby, in whose ' Ornithologia ' it appeared under the 

 name of Lesser Field-Lark. Both species are still common within half an 

 hour's walk of Jessop^s old residence, which is still known by the name of 

 Broomhall. 



The Tree-Pipit arrives in the southern parts of England during the 

 second or third week of April, a week later in Yorkshire, and in the south 

 of Scotland not until the beginning of May. Mr. Cordeaux has observed 

 it in North Lincolnshire on two occasions as early as the 5th of April. 

 It is a woodland bird, and is fond of open pieces of forest-land well 

 studded with old trees intermixed with birches. It is also very partial to 

 the outskirts of woods, and is especially common in fields where there are 

 tall trees in the hedges. It is rarely seen in bare and exposed tracts of 



