186 



THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



ROGK PIPIT. 

 Obscurus. — 

 Size. — Length 6f in. ; expanse n in. 



Plumage. — Bill horn colour, dark at 

 the tip and along the ridge. Top of head, 

 ear coverts, and back olive green, each 

 feather on the head and back having a dark 

 centre. "Wings dark brown ; the coverts 

 and tertials broadly margined with pale 

 ochreous drab. Primaries dark brown with 

 very narrow pale borders. Tail dark brown, 

 the feathers margined with pale colour, 

 and the outer feathers being dirty white on 

 the outer and part of the inner webs. A 

 pale line runs over the eye. Throat, breast, 

 and under parts pale ochreous drab, a broad 

 streak of olive brown extending from the 

 base of the lower mandible downwards, 

 and the centre of each feather on the throat 

 having a narrow, and those on the breast a 

 broad, obscure dash of olive brown, shaded 

 at the edge into the lighter colour. Legs 

 dark brown. 



The Female is similar to the male, but 

 rather smaller. 



Varieties. — Mr. Bond had one entirely 

 white specimen, shot in the Isle of Wight, 

 and Mr. Whitaker has one with the man- 

 dibles very much elongated and crossed. 

 Yarrell mentions one having the head, back, 

 and under parts white. 



Note. — Dr. Saxby says "The short and 

 pleasing song, accompanied by the same 

 singular actions so well known in the Tree 

 Pipit— the only difference been the substitu- 

 tion of a rock for a branch — begins about 

 the 12th of March, perhaps even earlier, 

 continuing until the hatching of the first 

 brood. I have observed that, as with the 

 Skylark, the first song is invariably heard 

 on a fine sunny day." 



Flight. — The flight, like that of the 

 other Pipits, is only for short distances, 

 from one stone to another. 



Migration. — This species is resident 

 on our coast throughout the year. 



Food. — Small insects, and the crusta- 

 ceans of small size, so numerous among 

 shingle and sea wrack, forms the food of 

 this bird. 



Habitat. — The Rock Pipit is common 

 on most of the coasts of England, Scotland 

 and Ireland. In the North it is abundant. 

 At Flamboro Head in Yorkshire I have 

 found them very numerous. 



Abroad it is found in all the northern 

 countries of Europe into the Arctic circle. 



Nest.— I quote Dr. Saxby's account, he 

 having had many opportunities of observing 

 this species in Shetland, he says : " They 

 pair about the middle or end of March, but 

 eggs are very rarely found before the end of 

 April. The nest is composed entirely of 

 dry grass, finer towards the inside ; more 

 than once I have found a small quantity of 

 dry sea-wrack intermixed, but only on two 

 occasions have I observed horse-hair in the 

 lining, and in each instance a stable was 

 very near at hand. It is usually situ- 

 ated under large stones, either upon the 

 turfy summit of a cliff, or upon the beach ; 

 less frequently it is found in holes of banks, 

 in rabbit burrows, in loose stone walls, and 

 in crevices of rocks, often half-way down a 

 high sea cliff. Occasionally I have found 

 the nest several hundred feet above the sea 

 level, at the base of a large stone, well con- 

 cealed among grass and heather ; but I 

 cannot call to mind one single instance in 

 which the nest has been so placed that the 

 sitting bird could not obtain a view of the 

 open sea." 



Eggs. — The eggs vary in number from 

 four to six. They vary in tint, but are 

 generally of a grey or dull yellowish-grey 

 ground colour, with brown or purplish- 

 brown freckles. Hewitson says they some- 



