CORYDALLA EUFULA. 
(THE COMMON PIPIT.) 
Anthus riifulm, Vieill. Diet. d’Hist. Nat. xxvi. p. 494 (1818) ; Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. 
B. p. 135 (1849) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1853, xii. p. 268 ; Horsf. & Moore, 
Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. i. p. 356 (1854). 
Corydalla rufuJa, Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 121 (1852); Jerdon, B. of Ind. ii. p. 232 
(1863); Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 458; Hume, Nests and Eggs, ii. p. 384 (1874); Ball, 
Str. Feath. 1874, p. 416; Hume, ibid. 1875, p. 142; Brooks, t. c. p. 252; Butler & 
Hume, t. c. p. 490; Fairbank, Str. Feath. 1876, p. 260; Armstrong, t. c. p. 330; 
Bourdillon & Hume, t. c. p. 401; Hume, t. c. p, 458; Fairbank, ibid, 1877, p. 407 ; 
Hume & Davison, B. of Tenass., ibid. 1878, p, 366 ; Ball, ibid. vii. p. 220 ; Cripps, 
t. c. p. 288. 
The Indian Titlark, Jerdon. Bugel, Hind.; Chachari, Hind, at Monghyr; Gurapa-^nadi 
pitta, Telugu ; Pastro marello, Portuguese ; Meta kdlie, lit. “ Long Legs,” Tamils. 
Adult male and female. Length 6‘2 to 6-75 inches; wing 3'0 to 3‘3 ; tail 2-5 ; tarsus IT ; middle toe and claw 0'8 ; 
hind toe 0‘4, claw 0-45 to 0-52 ; bill to gape 0'75 to 0-8. This species varies much in size. The claw is straight? 
like that of 0. richardi. 
Iris dark brown, olive-brown, or earth-brown ; bill, upper mandible dark brown, gape fleshy, lower mandible fleshy, 
■ndth dark tip ; legs and feet fleshy grey, joints darkish, claws brown. 
In general character this bird is very similar to Eichard’s Pipit, of which it is a miniature, differing structurally also in 
^ its shorter hind claws. The margins of the upper plumage are perhaps, as a rule, more clearly defined than in 
the larger bird, and the broad edgings of the wing-coverts and tertials more lawny in hue ; but, at the same time, 
the character of these markings is subject to variation ; the penultimate has the brown portion of the inner web, 
as a rule, more extensive than in the large bird ; the buff supercilium, ear-coverts, and cheeks are similar, but the 
streak at the side of the throat is, in low-country birds, less clearly defined ; chest and flanks washed with ful- 
vescent, the former streaked, and the under tail-coverts tinged, with buff, as in G. richardi. 
Some individuals from the patnas in the upper hills are very tawny in general hue, and have the tail darker than ui 
low-country birds ; the stripe mimin g down from the bill on each side of the throat is also bolder, and the bill 
very large in some,— in a Horton-Plains specimen it is 0-8 inch, quite as large as any Eichard’s Pipit; the wing 
measures only 3-3, and the hind claw 0-5 ; the anterior claws are very long, the middle one 0-26. In fact, had I 
large series exhibiting throughout the same character, it would, I think, be justifiable to separate the hiU-race as 
distinct. An example from Lindula patnas measures — ndng 3'2, hind claw 0’52. 
The edgings of the feathers above are very ochraceous, as is also the entire colour of the under surface. 
Young. Immature birds of the year scarcely differ from adults ; the feathers are perhaps rounder on the head, as in 
the Larks, and the centre tail-feathers rather conspicuously edged with buff. 
This species moults completely in September and October, but only the clothing-feathers before breeding. It has a 
strong propensity towards albinism : examples may occasionally be seen with two or three w'hite feathers in the 
tail ; and I possess one in which the terminal portions of all the clothing-feathers above, most of the central tail- 
feathers and tertials, and the entire occiput are pure white. 
Obs. The same variation in size appears to exist in continental members of this species ; and this fact exposes a 
propensity in its nature which makes it unsafe to try any expedient of dividing it into races. Many such uncer- 
tain birds exist, and they are, perhaps, better left alone, to enjoy an undisturbed and intimate relationship with 
one another. Mr. Hume, in dealing with Mr. Bourdillon’s specimens from the Travaneore hiUs, says that local 
races differ as much as those of Alauda gxdgula, the Indian Sky-Lark. In the southern examples, be remarks, the 
bills are longer and slenderer, the hind claw shorter, and the markings of the upper surface better defined and more 
pronounced. As regards size from various localities. Dr. Armstrong records the wing of an Irrawaddy specimen 
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