TREE PIPIT.
which the bird hovers a little, then descends, singing still, to the perch he started from.
The Meadow Pipit is the best known member of his family with us. Ground-lark, Titlark, Ling-bird, Moss-cheeper are some of its local names. It seems able to make itself at home anywhere in summer, but in winter it seeks the fields in sheltered places, near the coast by preference. Its food consists of insects, worms, molluscs and small snails, with seeds in winter. The little bird works its creeping way up the grass or heather, taking now and again quick little runs. The flight is wavering and jerky. The Titlark has a very strong smell about it, dogs “point” it frequently.
In size the Tree Pipit most resembles the Wagtail, but it has a shorter tail. Its general colour is more like the Lark, but it is less speckled. The mantle is olive-green, the breast yellowish. The points of the folded tail are formed by the three first flight feathers; the fourth is much shorter. The nail of the back toe is long like a spur, but not so long as the toe. The beak is delicate and slightly awl-shaped. It is a nice modest little bird; its flight dips and rises again continually. It builds its nest cleverly with soft materials in the shape of a saucer, and places it on the ground on a clod of earth, under the shelter of a heap of stones, or on a grass ridge. Five eggs are laid which are very varied, a dull blue, sometimes brownish, sometimes white, with dark spots.
USEFUL.