Cassell's book of birds; vol. 2

by Alfred Edmund Brehm

The Meadow Pipit is known to breed in all the northern half of the European continent, and is also met with in North-western Asia and North Africa. During the course of its journeyings in Egypt it usually settles near the coast among marshes, or near fields that are lying under water. In the British Isles it remains throughout the year, and is known in the lake district as the "Ling Bird," from the constancy with which it frequents the moors overgrown with heather or ling in that part of the country. Like the Larks it migrates in large flocks, and frequently in company with those birds, travelling day and night; it usually makes its appearance in this country about March, leaving again in November or December. Meadows, marsh-lands, or commons, afford the resorts it prefers, but it generally avoids arid or barren districts. The movements and habits of this species resemble those of other members of its family; it lives on excellent terms with birds of its own kind, but constantly exhibits a strong desire to annoy and irritate its other feathered companions.

"When progressing from place to place," says Mr. Yarrell, "the flight of this bird is performed by short unequal jerks, but when in attendance on its mate, and undisturbed, it rises with an equal vibratory motion, and sings some musical soft notes on the wing, sometimes while hovering over its nest, and returns to the ground after singing. Occasionally it may be seen to settle on a low bush, but is rarely observed sitting on a branch of a tree, or perched on a rail, which is the common habit of the Tree Pipit. The Meadow Pipit, when standing on a slight mound of earth, a clod, or a stone, frequently moves his tail up and down like a Wagtail."

The nest is placed on the ground, sometimes so much sunk as to be with difficulty perceived; sometimes sheltered by a tuft of grass. It is composed externally of stems and leaves of grass, lined with finer grass, fibres, and hair.

W. Thompson, Esq., in his valuable communications on the natural history of Ireland, says that "A friend at Cromac has frequently found the nest of the Meadow Pipit on the banks of watercourses and drains, as well as on the ground in fields. One which was known to him at the side of a drain was discovered by some bird-nesting boys, who pulled away the grass that concealed it. On visiting it the next day he observed a quantity of withered grass laid regularly across the nest; on removing this, which, from its contrast in colour with the surrounding grass, he considered must have been placed there by the boys, the bird flew off the nest, and, on his returning the following day, he found the grass similarly placed, and perceived a small aperture beneath it, by which the bird took its departure, thus indicating that the screen, which harmonised so ill with the surrounding verdure, had been brought thither by the bird itself. The same gentleman once introduced the egg of a Hedge Accentor into a Meadow Pipit's nest containing two of its own eggs, but, after a third egg was laid, the nest was 'abandoned.'" "This, however," observes Mr. Yarrell, "was probably induced by the visits of the observer rather than by the introduction of the strange egg, as the egg of the Cuckoo is more frequently deposited and hatched in the nest of the Meadow Pipit than in that of any other bird."

The eggs, four or five in number, have a dirty white or dull red shell, thickly strewn with brownish spots and streaks; they are generally hatched in thirteen days. The young leave the nest before they can fly, but conceal themselves with such adroitness at the first alarm of danger that they are rarely discovered. The first brood is produced in the beginning of May, and by the end of July the nestlings are capable of providing for themselves.

THE TREE PIPIT.

The TREE PIPIT (Anthus arboreus) so closely resembles the species above described as very frequently to be mistaken for it. It is, however, distinguishable by its superior size, the comparative strength of its beak and tarsi, and the shortness of the much curved centre claw. The upper part of the body is yellowish brown, or dull brownish green, darkly spotted in stripes; the rump and under side are of one uniform tint; a stripe over the eyes, the throat, crop, sides of the breast, legs, and lower wing-covers, are pale reddish yellow; the crop, upper breast, and sides, being spotted with black. The stripes on the wings and edges of the shoulder-feathers are lighter than in the plumage of the Meadow Pipit. The eye is brown, the beak greyish black, and the foot reddish grey. The body is six inches and a half long, and ten and three-quarters broad; the wing measures three inches and a quarter, and the tail two inches and a half. The female is considerably smaller than her mate. During the summer the Tree Pipits frequent the woodland districts of Europe and Siberia, and in the winter wander southward as far as the African steppes and the Himalayas; they usually arrive in England about the third week in April. In many respects these birds resemble their congeners, but, unlike most of them, take up their quarters in well-wooded and cultivated localities, and at once seek shelter in trees at the approach of danger, and run along the branches with ease. They are also far less social in their habits, and, except in the autumn, while still occupied with their young, live alone, or associate but seldom with the other feathered denizens of their favourite woods and groves. The song of the Tree Pipit far exceeds in its quality that of most other species; indeed, some of its loud, clear tones will bear comparison with those of the Canary. The male sings almost incessantly from sunrise to sunset, until the end of June, and pours out his lay from the point of some projecting branch, from whence he rises into the air, and after hovering for a short time slowly descends and finishes his song upon the perch he had just left. The nest is placed in a hollow in the ground, or carefully concealed in grass and clumps of plants; it is very clumsily built, only the interior being arranged with anything like neatness or care. The four or five eggs vary considerably both in form and colour, the tints being either reddish, greyish, or blueish white, spotted, mottled, or streaked with a darker shade. The female sits with such devotion that she often will not quit her eggs unless driven from the spot. The young are most tenderly reared by the exertions of both parents, and quit the nest before they are able to fly.

THE TREE PIPIT (Anthus arboreus).