38 
Mr. G. JD. Rowley on the Tawny Pipit. 
bird I always expected to turn up in England ? ” Ultimately I 
sent it up to Mr. Gould, whose answer I give in his own words : 
-—“ The bird is Anthus rufescens; apparently a fine old male in 
summer plumage. It is unusual for it to have spotted markings 
on the chest; but I have no doubt I am right as to its name. 
Others ought to be found on the south coast, as the bird is com¬ 
mon in the central parts of France and Spain.” 
1 had previously thought, and Swaysland with me, that it 
was a young bird of the year, and still' incline to that view, 
though hesitating to differ from so great an authority. We did 
so partly on account of the fine hair-like feathers about the 
vent, and the spangles or light edges to the feathers on the back, 
which all our Larks and Pipits have in their first plumage. It 
now came to our remembrance that another specimen, which 
had been sold to Henry Collins, Esq., of Aldsworth, near Ems- 
worth, for an Anthus ricardi , was exactly the same as the one 
under examination. Upon this I wrote to Mr. Collins, a gen¬ 
tleman whose collection is rich in British-killed birds; and 
he, in the most liberal manner, directly placed it at my disposal. 
I knew that there could not be the smallest doubt that this 
latter was a bond fide British bird, as it had been shot by Harding, 
a domestic servant in Brighton and a highly respectable man, 
with whom I am well acquainted, and can quite depend upon. I 
was therefore much pleased to find it exactly correspond with 
the other (particularly in the short hind claw, which is long 
in A. ricardi), and to observe that Mr. Collins's example is even 
finer than Swaysland's. I ascertained the particulars of its cap¬ 
ture from Harding myself. It was shot by him, August 17, 
1858, about 7 o'clock in the morning, close to a shallow pool (a 
good locality, which I hold in great respect), near Shoreham 
Harbour, where I have, as the wished-for daylight began to 
appear, come upon a Grey Plover ( Vanellus melanogaster), heard 
“ his signal-whistle,'' and traced his tracks upon the mud. I 
asked Harding what called his attention to this bird more than 
others, since he said there were several Rock Pipits about at the 
time, and the Meadow Pipit [Anthus py'atensis) is abundant. He 
said the note struck him as different to the Titlarks. “ It came 
piping down from above,” and allowed him to approach with 
