MEADOW PIPIT. 9 



On a closer examination, however, of the eggs of the pied- 

 wagtail and the Meadow Pipit, a characteristic difference 

 may be observed ; the wagtail's eggs are marked with many 

 round dots, intermixed with the other markings, and these 

 latter are never so numerous as to unite and produce the 

 reticulated appearance usual in the Meadow Pipit's eggs. 

 The Meadow are also distinguished from the tree pipit's by 

 having a zone of crowded markings close around the larger 

 end, which our specimens of the tree-pipit's do not possess. 

 Among all the eggs of this species that have come under our 

 observation hardly any two sets have been exactly alike in 

 colour. 



The solicitude of this little bird for its young is very great, 

 and its attachment even to its eggs remarkable : we once met 

 with a curious instance of the latter. A Meadow Pipit had 

 chosen for its place of nidification a small hole or cavern 

 beneath a tuft of heath, that had been cut and laid upon the 

 grass with the roots upwards, for the purpose of being used as 

 turf, a very common fuel in Surrey ; we discovered the nest, 

 which was not much concealed, and, being in want of speci- 

 mens, took it : it contained two eggs. On passing the same 

 spot the following day, we observed, with much surprise and 

 some compunction, that the little bird was not to be driven 

 either from the spot, or from her intentions of rearing her 

 family there, even by our rough and cruel treatment, for she 

 had laid another egg in the empty cave. This circumstance 

 excited our interest in the affectionate and patient little 

 creature, and we visited the place again in hopes of seeing her 

 perseverance rewarded : but we found her misfortunes were 

 still further accumulated, for a heavy horse's foot had been 

 placed upon the spot, and had destroyed all traces both of the 

 cavern and its contents. 



The Meadow Pipit is a watchful little bird, and always on 

 the alert ; it is among the first of small birds to take alarm 



