BIOTACILLIDjE — ANTHINjE : PIPITS, OB TITLARKS. 285 
mostly white. Bill and feet black. Length about 6.50; wing 3.00; tail about 2.75; bill 0.50; 
tarsus 0.90; hind toe and claw 0.65. A protean species of extensive dispersion in Europe and 
Asia, occurring abundantly in Alaska ; there is some uncertainty to what form the American 
bird strictly belongs. It is that with the whole side of the head, below the white stripe, slaty- 
blackish, and some dusky markings on breast; doubtless some Asiatic sub-species (taivanus 
Swinh.?) 
14. Subfamily ANTHIN/E: Pipits, or Titlarks. 
In these, the tail is shorter than the wings, 
and composed of broader feathers retaining their 
width to near the end ; 4 or 5 primaries usually 
form the point of the wing ; the tarsi are rela- 
tively shorter, usually about equal to the middle 
toe ; the lateral toes are longer, the points of 
their claws reaching beyond the base of the mid- 
dle claw; the hind claw is always lengthened 
and straightened (as in the figure beyond given 
of Anthiis ludovicianus) ; and the coloration is 
''niggled," that is to say, broken up in streaks 
Fig. 158. -Meadow Pipit. (From Dixon.) and spots. The species of Anthince make up 
nearly or about half the family ; they are chiefly referable to the genus Antlms, of which, 
however, there are several subdivisions. In typical Anthus, the wing is longer than the tail, 
and its point is formed by the outer 4 primaries, the 5th being abruptly shorter ; the liind 
claw is nearly straight, and nearly or quite equals its digit in length. Neocorys only differs in 
having the feet larger and tail shorter. In certain S. Am. formS; Pediocorys and Notiocorys, 
the wing is more rounded, and 4 or even 5 primaries enter into the tip of the wing ; in 
several European subgenera only 3 primaries are abruptly longer than the succeeding ones. 
Our Anthus is strictly congeneric with the European A. spinoletta, type of the genus. About 
fifty species (among them six or eight Central and South American ones) are ascribed to 
Anthince. They are terrestrial and more or less gregarious birds, migratory and insectivorous. 
AN^THUS. (Gr. av6o9, anthos, Lat. antlms, a kind of bird.) Pipits. Bill shorter than head, 
about as wide as high at base, compressed in most of its extent, acute at tip, where distinctly 
notched ; culmen slightly concave between base and terminal convexity ; rictus slightly bristled. 
Wings longer than tail, tipped l>y the first 4 primaries, 5th abruptly shorter. Tarsi not 
shorter or rather longer than the hind toe and claw ; inner lateral toe rather longer than the 
outer, or the two about equal. Tail extending beyond the end of the outstretched feet. 
Markings of upper parts distinct, and shade of under parts greenisli in pratensis 88 
Markings of upper parts obscure, and shade of under parts buify in ludovicianus 89 
A. praten'sis. (JL-aX. pratensis, relating U) x>vatum, a meadow. Fig. 158.) Meadow Pipit. 
Upper parts pale greenish-brown, distinctly marked with blackish -brown centres of the feath- 
ers; wing-quills and coverts clove-brown, edged with greenish -gray . Tail-feathers dark 
brown, edged with the greenish shade of the back, the outer one obliquely vA^hite for nearly half 
its length, and others with white at the end. Cheeks olivaceous, speckled with dusky. Under 
parts brownish- white \\\X\\ a tinge of green, marked on the breast and sides with brownish - 
black streaks running forward as a maxillary chain ; chin, belly, and under tail-coverts un- 
marked. Bill dusky above and at end, the rest livid flesh -color; feet obscure flesh-color; iris 
blackish. Length about 6.00; extent 9.50; wing 3.00; tail 2.50; bill 0.50; tarsus 0.75. 
Europe ; North American as occurring in Greenland, and also, it is said, in Alaska. I have 
seen Alaskan Pipits, certainly not ludovicianus, and apparently pratensis; but too young and 
in too bad condition to furnish decisive characters. 
