FAM. ri. WAGTAILS, PIPITS 



71 



Length, 6^; wing, 3f (3J-3i); tail, 2| ; tarsus, |; culmen, J. Nortli 

 America; breeding in tlie subarctic regions and liiglier mountains and 

 wintering in the Gulf 

 States to Central Amer- 

 ica. 



2. Sprague's Pipit 



(700. Anthus sprfX- 

 gueii). — A bird in 

 appearance very 

 much like the last, 

 but with the colors 

 brighter and the 

 markings more dis- 

 tinct. This species 

 has the tarsus 



American Fipit 



shorter than the hind toe and claw, while the preceding has it 

 as long, sometimes longer. This has a tail always less than 2|, 

 the other greater, sometimes 3 long. While the two are so simi- 

 lar in form, size, and colors, they are wonderfully different in 

 power of song. This is a sky-singing bird, like the skylark 

 of Europe. Dr. Coues says : " No other bird music heard in 

 our land compares with the wonderful strains of this songster ; 

 there is something not of earth in the melody, coming from 

 above, yet from no visible source ; . . . the whole air seems 

 filled with the tender strains." (Missouri Skylark.) 



Length, 6^ ; wing, SJ (3-3s); tail, 2|; tarsus, J; culmen, J. Interior 

 plains of North America. Once recorded east of the Mississippi (in South 

 Carolina) . 



FAMILY VII. WOOD WAEBLERS (MNIOTfLTID^) 



A family (100 species) of exclusively American brightly 

 colored, small birds of woodlands and thickets. Their habits 

 in gathering their insect prey vary greatly ; some, like the 

 vireos, search carefully for hidden insects, resting or crawling 

 on leaf, on bark, or in flower ; others flit from twig to twig, 

 gathering the exposed insects, while still others are like the 

 flycatchers, capturing most of their prey while on the wing. 



