4'.V2 Notices and Desertions of various [May, 



Tree Pipits with those allied to A. pratensis, obscurus, &c. ; though 

 where to trace the line of separation, at all satisfactorily, seems quite 

 impossible, albeit Mr. Swainson has classed his Anthus and Agrodoma 

 in distinct and widely separated natural families. The Tree Pipits (to 

 which, if it be thought necessary to separate them, the name Dendron- 

 anthus may be applied), are distinguished by shorter tarsi, a less 

 elongated and more curved hind-claw, and a comparatively short and 

 less slender bill than in many others : they resort to open woodlands, 

 and perch often ; and their gait and general manners are different from 

 those of other Pipits (as may be well observed by keeping them in con- 

 finement). Their actions are more deliberate, and they have not the 

 habitual rapid run of other Pipits and Wagtails ; neither, in captivity, 

 are they at all peckish and quarrelsomely disposed towards their 

 companions, as is eminently the case with the Motacilla and Budytes 

 genera, and with the Rock and Meadow Pipit of England and the 

 species allied to them. I might point out other differences of the kind, 

 the ensemble of which imparts a very distinct subgeneric character to 

 the Tree Pipits ; but such distinctions are not to be recognised in the 

 dry skins with which the systematist is compelled principally to deal : 

 and I shall proceed to range all the Indian species in Anthus proper, 

 commencing with the arboreal Pipits, of which I think two species are 

 before me.* 



1. A. trivialis, (L.) : A. arboreus, Bechstein. This species, the most 

 migratory of the European Pipits, (or a near affine to it,) abounds in 

 Lower Bengal during the cold season, and, it would seem, in suitable 

 localities throughout the country : frequenting groves and gardens, 

 with a disposition to be social, if not gregarious ; and where an extent 

 of thin tree-jungle harbours them in considerable numbers, I have noticed 

 that, towards evening, they commonly fly to and fro over their haunts 

 in scattered parties ; now perhaps two or three, then several, and then 

 perchance a solitary bird, each frequently uttering a slight chirp, and often 

 several descending to alight for a while near together on the same tree : 

 this restlessness they will continue to evince till it is getting dark ; and 

 it would scarcely be guessed what bird it was, till one had been brought 

 down. I never heard the species sing in this part of the world : and 

 its (hyemal) dress is different from that with which we are more 

 * The Tree Pipits certainly approximate the American genus Seiwrus. 



