35 
Perching Birds. 
appearance as the 
Yellow Wagtail, 
but distinguished 
by its blue-grey 
head and broad 
whiteeyebrow. The 
females and young 
birds can, however, 
scarcely be told 
from those of Ray’s 
Wagtail. M.flava 
is an accidental 
visitor to Great 
Britain, but has 
been known to 
breed in Northum- 
berland, and pro- The Meadow-Pipit. The Tree-Pipit. 
bably occurs more 
frequently than is supposed. Like its relative, M. campestris, it winters both in 
Western and South-eastern Africa, but it otherwise enjoys a much wider range, 
extending across Siberia to the Pacific, and wintering as far south as the Moluccas 
and in the peninsula of India. In habits and its mode of nidification it does not 
differ from those of the Yellow Wagtail. 
THE This is a very elegant little bird, in appearance like a Lark, but 
TREE-PIPIT. more trim and brighter looking. All the Pipits have a more or less 
(Anthus Lark-like plumage, being brown streaked with black, and paler under- 
trivialis.) neath, with blackish streaks on the breast. The Tree-Pipit is 
distinguished from the Meadow- Pipit and the other British species by its curved hind 
claw ; it is also much less of a ground bird than the other Pipits. 
The present species breeds over the greater part of Europe, as far as the Valley of 
the Yenesei, but it only nests on the mountains of Southern Europe. Its winter 
home is in Northern and North-eastern Africa, and in Western India. It is locally 
distributed throughout England, but becomes gradually rarer in Scotland, and is 
scarcely known in Ireland. The Tree-Pipit may often be observed on the outskirts 
of woods and plantations, flying up from the trees and bushes into the air, and 
descending spirally to its perch or to the ground, and singing melodiously all the 
while. Its food consists chiefly of insects, and it also frequents the neighbourhood 
of cattle on the pastures, to catch flies like the Wagtails, and it has the same 
dipping motion of the tail as in the latter birds. The nest is a simple structure 
of dried grass or rootlets, with a lining of fine grass or horsehair, and is always 
placed on the ground. The eggs are from four to seven in number, and vary 
3 * 
