86 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH INLAND BIRDS 
TREE PIPIT. 
{Anthus Irivialis.) 
Field Lark, Tree Lark, Wood Lark (Scotland). 
— In plumage and in many of their habits the 
Pipits closely resemble the Larks ; but in the 
more permanent and trustworthy features of 
structure they differ from them considerably, and 
are so like the Wagtails that they have been given 
a scientific position next beside them. The Tree 
Pipit chiefly haunts rough ground interspersed with 
bushes, and the fringes of woods, and arrives in this 
country about the middle of April. It is a warm 
brown above, mottled with small darker brown 
streaks, and warm buff on the breast, marked with 
spots or short streaks of dark brown, in the fashion 
of the Skylark or the Thrush. It is rather diffi- 
cult to distinguish at first sight from the Meadow 
Pipit, which is with us all the year ; but it is 
noticeably larger, and it has warmer tints in its 
plumage both on the back and breast. It haunts, 
moreover, more bushy and leafy places than the 
Meadow Pipit, which prefers open moorlands, hill- 
sides, and fields, though the localities of the two 
birds often overlap. Both sing mostly upon the 
wing, but the Tree Pipit alone has a characteristic 
way of beginning its song on the top of a tree. 
