'I’llK MKADOW 1*1 PIT. 
<sr> 
conclusions, sliunld be regarded with great caution. For 
instance, on one occasion 1 saw in niy gai'den a nmnber of 
coininoii mountain linnets feeding eagerly u])on the seeds of 
Anagallis arrensiSy — a ])lant until then unknown in Shetland, 
hut which had become accidentally introduced in a parcel ol‘ 
tlower-seeds from England. Now, had the mountain linnet 
l)een a rare bird then observed in the islands for the first time, 
the assertion that it had been attracted by its hivourite food 
would doubtless have passed unchallenged. 
The Meadow Ihpit, though resident, seems, like the skylark, 
to make a partial migration in autumn, very few being seen in 
winter. In the spring it returns to breed upon the hills, not 
often in cultivated places, descending to the low grounds after 
the second brood is fledged. Like most birds resident in 
Shetland, it breeds late, the eggs seldom being found sooner 
than the middle of May. The young of the second brood 
remain with the parents at least until the end of September. 
As the warm weather — there is little enough of it — goes away, 
the turnip fields furnish both food and concealment ; and when 
a garden chances to be near it also offers considerable attrac- 
tions, the birds often being seen traversing the branches of the 
trees and shrubs in quest of the numerous insects which resort 
to them for shelter. 
THE EOCK PIPIT. 
AntJius ohsmrus. 
TAxVG SPARROW — TEETICK. 
The Eock Pipit, better known to the natives by the name of 
"'tang sparrow,” from its habit of frequenting the sea-weed, or 
“tang” as it is locally termed, is very abundant throughout the 
islands, frequenting the shores upon every coast, and only 
venturing inland for the sake of shelter in unusually boisterous 
weather. At such times I have observed it wading in ditches, 
feeding under shelter of walls and outhouses, sometimes in cold 
