is more rare in Southern India, especially in the Carnatic ; but it is abundant in Lower Bengal. It is also found 
in Ceylon, inBurinah, and other countries to the eastward. It always affects swampy or wet ground, grassy 
beds of rivers, edges of tanks, and especially wet rice-fields, either singly or in small parties. Its flight is 
strong, elegant, and undulating, and it flies some distance in general before it alights again. Swinhoe says 
it is very ochreous on its arrival in China, but that this wears off : perhaps he here alludes to the race regarxled 
as distinct and named sinensis by Bonaparte. The Corydalla Richardi\% brought in large numbers to Calcutta 
and sold as Ortolan.” 
“ Richard’s Pipit,” says M. Bailly, “ inhabits Spain, the south of Germany, and the environs of Vienna, in 
Austria; it is also found in France, but more frequently in the southern than in the northern part of that 
country. It is rare in Savoy ; I have only met with it from the beginning of September to the middle of 
October, always solitary ; and it leaves us again before the frost sets in, for warmer climates. Although I have 
not found this bird during the nesting-season, I feel convinced that it occasionally breeds here, because during 
an excursion to the forests of Saint Michel-des-Deserts a shepherd brought me the nest of a Pipit he 
had just taken from the ground in a neighbouring meadow; it was larger than that of any of the Pipits 
known to breed with us, and was outwardly composed of moss mingled with filaments of dried grasses, and 
lined with hairs and some small tufts of sheep’s wool. It contained three eggs, which were unlike those of the 
other Pipits in colour, larger and rounder, their shells somewhat glossy, and sprinkled over with a 
number of irregularly shaped brown spots, tinged here and there with a reddish hue, and so numerous at 
the larger end that the whitish ground-colour was scarcely perceptible. Upon showing them to several 
ornithologists, they agreed in the opinion that they were the eggs of Anthus Richardi. 
“The bird always arrives in Savoy early in the morning, and, after the sun has risen, is found in the 
open fields, sometimes in the vineyards, but more frequently on fallow and waste lands, and in stony places 
near open plains. Like the Wagtail, it runs quickly after insects, worms, grasshoppers, and crickets, and 
sometimes seizes passing gnats and flies. Occasionally it may be seen at rest beside a clod of earth or a 
stone ; like several of its congeners, it mounts on heaps of straw, maize, and peas, and occasionally the 
thatch of the barns, to capture the insects which resort thither in the early morning to enjoy the first rays of 
the sun. I have never seen it in trees, nor even in bushes. About nine or ten o’clock it leaves the more 
sunny and exposed situations, and seeks the shade among clover, lucerne, buckwheat, and potatos ; in the 
afterpart of the day it searches for its insect food in the newly turned earth and the fields, and a little before sun- 
set retires to the corn-fields for the night, sometimes settling behind a clod of earth or turf. Being of a tame 
disposition, it is easily approached. When commencing its flight it generally utters some notes very similar 
to those of Anthus rufescens, but so much louder that they may be heard at a considerable distance. The 
t\ie. woyA?> pret piet,pret piet, pret piet. Its flight is heavier than that of the Pipits gene- 
rally, and is more like that of a Lark. In autumn its flesh becomes loaded with fat, and it is then 
considered a very delicate morsel.” 
The Plate represents a male, in winter, from a British-killed specimen in the collection of Mr. Bond ; 
the darker-coloured figure is from one of the examples taken at Highgate, mentioned above. The 
beautiful little plant is the Fly-Orchis (^Orchis musciferd). 
