Birds. 5507 



eye, and I said to myself, " This is distinct from the former one ;■' and, 

 on examining the two together, I observed a marked difference, but it 

 will of course be asked, What was that difference ? In answering this 

 question, I must first say that the specimens compared had been just 

 shot — they were fresh : I might then state that one was a trifle larger 

 than the other, that there was a slight difference in the form of the 

 beak, that the tertial feathers were not in the same proportion to the 

 primaries, or that there was some difference in the markings of the 

 breast and under tail-coverts ; but these differences might not be con- 

 stant during the year, and would not be observed, except by com- 

 paring specimens of each species, and would therefore be useless in 

 the description of either species, and so I say that the great difference 

 which struck me was that the meadow pipit had the legs and feet of a 

 light brown, under surface of the feet yellow, and bill tinged with 

 yellow ; while the legs, feet and claws of the tree pipit were flesh- 

 colour, and the base of the under mandible of the bill the same. I 

 have, however, shot the former in England in November, with the 

 legs and feet orange, but I cannot find that they are ever of a flesh- 

 colour, like the tree pipit. 



To Dr. William Carte is due the sole honour of bringing that rare 

 bird, Richard's pipit {Anthus Ricardi) before the public as an inha- 

 bitant of the Crimea, a specimen of which, together with the remainder 

 of his collection, is at the Museum of the Royal Dublin Society, and I 

 have the satisfaction of being able to state that he will read a paper on 

 the " Natural History of the Crimea" before the Society, on the last 

 Friday of the present month (January). 



I have two more, which must not be overlooked, for, being unknown 

 as British, their names will not be so familiar to many readers. I did 

 not notice the first, the tawny pipit {Anthus rufescens) until the 23rd 

 of April, after which it was numerous and generally distributed ; and, 

 having observed it beyond the middle of May, I consider that it breeds 

 in the country. I usually found it on open parts, sometimes bare and 

 rocky, and one day I saw it catch a large insect, which I think, from 

 having seen several about, was a species of grasshopper without wings ; 

 it perches on a twig as well as on the ground, where its movements are 

 something like the wagtails, but its motion in flying is peculiar, and it 

 utters a note like " Tee-twee :" I have noticed two chasing one another 

 about a rocky hill for a long time, quite regardless of my presence. 

 This bird will mount in the air in the manner of a lark singing, and 

 come down very rapidly to the ground, with its wings considerably 

 elevated above its back. 



