316 MEADOW PIPIT. 



and their larvae. We have seen it artfully excavating- the decayed part 

 of that tree, carrying- the chips in its bill to some distance, always work- 

 ing downwards, making the bottom for the reception of the nest larger 

 than the entrance. The nest is composed of moss and thistle-down, 

 sometimes a little wool, and lined with the down of the thistle. It lays 

 live or six white eggs, spotted with rusty red, mostly at the larger end; 

 their weight from nineteen to twenty-one grains. 



We shall here remark, that all the species of Tits, whose eggs are 

 known, are similar in colour, and only to be distinguished from each 

 other by size and weight. Those of the nuthatch, creeper, wren, yel- 

 low wren, wood wren, and chiff-chaff, all agree in their markings, and are 

 so like those of the Tits, that it is scarce possible to separate them with 

 certainty, if once mixed together ; and it is somewhat remarkable that all 

 these birds breed in holes, or make a covered nest. This bird is not so 

 common as the great or blue species, but more plentiful than the cole 

 tit. It is also found in many other parts of Europe, especially in 

 Sweden and Italy. The notes of the three species with black heads 

 are much alike, especially that which is like the whetting of a saw, and 

 the whistle made use of only in the spring ; but their chatter is to be 

 distinguished. 



*" This species," says Selby, "is seldom seen in search of food upon 

 the higher trees, like others of its tribe, but confines itself to underwood, 

 flitting from bush to bush near the ground." * 



MARTIN.— A name for the Window Swallow. 



MARTINET.— A name for the Window Swallow. 



MARYGOLD FINCH.— A name for the Gold-Crested Wren. 



MAVIS.— A Scotch name for the Thrush. 



MEADOW PIPIT {Anthus pratensis, Bechstein.) 



*Anthus pratensis, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. 3. p. 732. t. 36. f. 2.— Alauda pratensis, 

 Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. p. 49. 3. sp. 5.— Linn. Syst. 1. p. 287. 2.—Gmel. Syst. 1. 



p. 792 Rati, Syn. p. 69. A. 3.— Will. p. 150.— Briss. 3. p. 343. 3.— Spipola 



altera Aldrov. Raii, Syn. p. 80. 4 — Will. p. 153. 171. — Alauda campestris, 

 Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. p. 495. 12.— Le Cujelier, Buff. pi. Enl. 660. f. 2.— 

 L'Alouette de Pres, Buff. Ois. 5. p. 31. t. 3.— Pepit Farlouse, Temm. Man. 

 d'Orn. 1. p. 269. — W iesenpieper, Meyer, Tasschenb. Deut. 1. p. 255. — Frisch, 



t. 16. f. 2. A.— Tit Lark, Br. Zool. No. 138 Arct. Zool. 2. p. 395. C.—Albin, 



t. 43.— Will. (Angl.) p. 110.— Le win's Br. Birds, 3. t. 98.— Lath. Syn. 4. p. 

 374. 5— Wale. Syn. 2. t. 191.— Mont. Orn. Diet.— Ib. Supp. and App. to Supp. 

 — Pult. Cat. Dorset, p. 8. — Low's Faun. Oread, p. 67. — Bewick's Br. Birds, 1. 

 p. 185. — Shaw's Zool. 10. p. 540. — Pipit Lark, Mont. Orn. Diet. — Shaw's Zool. 

 10. p. 542.— Meadow Lark, Lath. Syn. 4. p. 378. 10.— Shaw's Zool. 10. p. 539. 

 Selby, pi. 49. fig. 4. p. 216. 



Provincial. — Titlark. Grey Cheeper. Moss Cheeper.* 



This species weighs about four drams, forty grains ; length nearlv 



five inches and three quarters. Bill slender, dusky, except at the ^ se 



of the under mandible ; irides hazel. 



