abounding there, rather than hy the fruit, which, I believe, it never eats. Being constantly seen in such 
situations, it is known by the names of Vinette, Becfigue, and Becjigue de V'lgnes. In Savoy it plays a 
very important part as an article of diet, and it is there captured or killed in various ways, principally hy a 
kind of clap-net ; hut the gun is sometimes employed, and fifteen or twenty may be shot at one discharge 
while resting during their autumnal migration ; with us, however, it is never seen in such abundance, and 
I question if the cost of powder and shot required to procure a dish of Tree-Pipits would not be too great to 
render it remunerative, or if the bird-catcher would be compensated for his time, patience, and trouble. In 
the way of eating all kinds of little birds, we and our continental brethren are very different people ; and I can 
easily imagine, from what I have heard of strings of Robins and Wrens being exposed for sale in the markets 
of Rome and other places, that the present bird with its rolls of fat would form for them a bonne bouche not 
to be despised. 
Hitherto I have only spoken of this bird as frequenting England, Scotland, and a portion of Europe ; its 
range, however, is far more extensive, since it has been observed all over the central portions of the con- 
tinent, Madeira, North Africa, Palestine, Persia, and some parts of India : further west than this it would 
not be safe to assign it a locality, since the species of this form inhabiting China and Japan is, I believe, 
the Pipastes agilis. As is the case with the other members of this form, the sexes are alike in colouring, 
and the young at a month old differ but little from the first autumn moult of their parents. 
As a songster the Tree-Pipit is in some respects unsurpassed by any British bird. Though its notes may 
perhaps be deficient in the softer modulations which characterize those of the Blackcap and the Redbreast, 
in power they exceed those of the Nightingale itself. Its joyous outburst rings through the surrounding 
groves in a manner almost astonishing even to those most accustomed to it, while they make a stranger 
suspect that he is listening to the tones of some truant Canary. The bird seems to delight in singing 
during the sunny Intervals of showery weather. At such times it may be observed springing into the air 
and, while on. the wing, with quaint gestures, pouring forth its loud triumphant carol, which suddenly ceases 
as it alights on some neighbouring tree. 
Notwithstanding the curved form of its short hind claw, it runs over the ground with great agility; at the 
same time it is less shy and recluse than its congeners, is more tame in disposition, and displays the elegance 
of its form by exposing itself readily to the view of the spectator while lightly perched on some bare branch 
of a tree, the end of a vine-pole, or the crown of a hillock, a stone, or any conspicuous elevation. 
The nest is a slight structure, placed with little artifice, in a depression on the side of a bank or among 
the grasses in the open field or shrubbery, frequently under the shelter af a bush or tuft of herbage. With 
regard to its eggs, Mr. Hewltson remarks that there are none “which present so many, or such distinct 
varieties as those of the Tree-Pipit. No one would at first believe them to he eggs of the same species ; 
and it was not until I had captured the bird upon each of the varieties, and also received them from Mr. H. 
Doubleday similarly attested, that I felt satisfactorily convinced upon the subject. All are easily procured.” 
The most common kind are somewhat smaller than the others, and of a deep reddish hue sprinkled with 
fine dots of a livelier tint; the others are of as many shades of pale lilac, purplish, or bulfy red, more or 
less minutely spotted, and blotched with darker tints of the same hue. 
“ The nest of this species,” adds Mr. Hewltson, “ is composed chiefly of dry grass mixed with moss, lined 
with finer grasses, and sometimes with a few hairs. It is placed on the ground, rarely far distant from trees 
or brushwood, and is frequently found in woods and plantations by the side of a drive or footpath. The 
favourite resort of the Tree-Pipit is a grassy bank on the margin of a wood, especially if ornamented by a 
few single trees, on the branches of which it delights to perch. In such a situation you are sure to find its 
nest and eggs towai-ds the end of May or during the month of June. The eggs are four or five in number.” 
Feathers of the head and all the upper surface brownish black, broadly margined with reddish grey ; wing- 
coverts brownish black, tipped with greyish white ; primaries deep brown ; outer tail-feathers whitish, with 
a broad stripe of dark brown occupying the basal three-fourths of the margin of the inner web, the next on 
each side dark hrown, with a deeply indented mark of whitish at the tip of the inner web, the remainder 
wholly dark brown ; above the eye a streak of buff ; ear-coverts brown ; under surface fawn-colour, becoming 
paler on the chin and centre of the abdomen, and having a series of dark-brown streaks down the sides of the 
neck, across the breast, and on the flanks ; bill fleshy brown, lighter on the under mandible ; legs and feet 
fleshy white. 
The Plate represents the two sexes, of the natural size, on the white poplar (JPopidus alba, Linn.). 
