BROWN BIRDS WITH SPOTTED BREASTS. 83 



of the Tree and Meadow Pipits. It is darker in plum- 

 age than the Meadow- Pipit, but resembles that bird 

 in almost all other points. It walks ; it wags its tail 

 gently up and down when pausing*; it flies with the 

 same jerky, erratic motions ; it has the same ' peeping ' 

 call-note ; it mounts to sing, and as it rises emits a 

 metallic ' Seeng ! seeng ! seeng ! ' until, at a height of 

 thirty or forty feet, it spreads its wings and tail out, 

 and laying them rigidly back at an angle of about 

 forty- five degrees, sinks with a slanting, slowly 

 gliding flight to Its rocky perch, emitting as it 

 descends the same metallic note, but with ever- 

 diminishing intervals and force, until the song dies 

 out altogether as the bird alights. Like the Meadow- 

 Pipits, the Rock-Pipits band together in winter, but 

 even then they keep to the neighbourhood of the sea- 

 shore. 



MEADOW-PIPIT— Si inches ; outer tail-feathers white. 



TREE-PIPIT— 6 inches ; a tree-percher. Song-flight similar 

 to that of the Eock-Pipit, but song infinitely more varied. 



SKYLARK — 7 inches ; conspicuous crest, causing it to 

 appear square-headed in profile ; flight hovering rather 

 than i erky. Alarm-note, musical 'Pr-r-r-r-r-rl' Doesnot 

 wag tail. Song, prolonged carolling at great altitude. 



WOODLARK — 6 inches ; a bird of the woodside, singing 

 on tree-perch, or mounting thence to sing sustained song 

 on the wing ; tail very short and is not wagged. 



SKYLARK. — Plate 35. Length, 7 inches. Upper 

 parts mottled with light and dark brown ; faint bufFy 

 streak over eye ; wing-feathers with light edges and 

 tips conspicuous during flight ; central tail-feathers 

 (Jq.rk, outer ones white ; under parts white washed 



It 



