What bird is that?

by Frank M. Chapman

WAGTAILS AND PIPITS. FAMILY MOTACILLIDÆ

AMERICAN PIPIT
Anthus rubescens. [Case 4], Fig. 62; [Case 5], Fig. 17

Outer tail-feathers white, bill slender, back grayish. L. 6½.

Range. Nests from Newfoundland to Greenland; winters from Maryland to Florida and Mexico.

Washington, W.V., sometimes abundant, Oct. 2-May 12. Ossining, common T.V., Mch. 26-(?); Sept. 24-Nov. 16. Cambridge, T.V., abundant Sept. 20-Nov. 10; rare Apl. 10-May 20. N. Ohio, common T.V., Apl. 6-May 20; Oct. 19. Glen Ellyn, not common T.V., Apl. 15-; Sept. 30-Oct. 18. SE. Minn., common T.V., May 4-; Oct.

At first glance a Pipit might be mistaken for a Sparrow—let us say, a Vesper Sparrow; but note that it walks, instead of hops, that it constantly wags or 'tips' its tail, that it has a slender, not stout bill. Meadows, pastures, plowed fields, golf-courses, are frequented by Pipits, usually in flocks of a dozen or more. When flushed, with a faint dee-dee, they bound lightly into the air but usually soon return to earth.

Sprague's Pipit (Anthus spraguei), a slightly smaller species, nests in Montana, Dakota, and northward, and is sometimes found in small numbers on the coast of South Carolina and Georgia in winter.

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