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 
five 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. 192..— Baii, 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, B^lff. pi. Enl. 660. f. 2. — 
L’Alouette de Pres, Bujf. Ois. 5. p. 31. t. 3. — Pepit Farlouse, Temm. Man. 
d’Orn. 1. p. 269. — Wiesenpieper, Meyer, Tasschenb. Deut. 1. p. 255. — Frisch, 
t. 16. f. 2. A. — Tit Lark, Br. Zool. No. 138 Arct. Zool. 2. p. 395. C. — Alhin, 
t. 43, — Will. (Angl.) p. 110. — Lewin’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. l0.-~^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 nearly 
five inches and three quarters. Bill slender, dusky, except at the base 
of the under mandible ; irides hazel. 
