A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 1 of 3

by Spencer Fullerton Baird; T. M. Brewer; Robert Ridgway

Baldamus (Naumannia, 1857, 202) says he has received Anthus aquaticus and its eggs from Labrador. This statement, however, requires verification.

Anthus ludovicianus, Licht.

TITLARK; AMERICAN PIPIT.

Alauda ludoviciana, Gm. S. N. I, 1788, 793. Anthus ludovicianus, Licht. Verz. 1823, 37; also of Audubon & Bonaparte.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 232; Rev. 153.—Coues, Pr. A. N. S. 1861, 220 (Labrador).—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1856, 296 (Cordova).—Ib. Catal. 1861, 24, No. 153. Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, 9 (Guatemala).—Jones, Nat. in Bermuda, 1859, 29, autumn.—Blakiston, Ibis, 1862, 4 (Saskatchewan).—Dall & Bannister, Tr. Chic. Ac. I, 1869, 277.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 78. Alauda rubra, Gm.; Alauda rufa, Wils.; Anthus spinoletta, Bon., Aud.; Alauda pennsylvanica, Briss.; ? Alauda pennsylvanica, Bonn. Encycl. Méth. I, 1790, 319. ? Motacilla hudsonica, Lath. Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 503.—Vieillot, Encycl. Méth. II, 1823, 447. Anthus pennsylvanica, Zander; Anthus aquaticus, Aud.; Anthus pipiens, Aud.; Anthus rubens, Merrem; Anthus reinhardtii, Hölboll, Fauna Grönlands (ed. Paulsen), 1846, 25 (Greenland).

Figures: Aud. Birds Am. III, pl. cxl.—Ib. Orn. Biog. I, pl. lxxx.—Wilson, V. pl. lxxxix.

Sp. Char. (Female, in spring.) Above olive-brown, each feather slightly darker towards the central portion; beneath pale dull-buff, or yellowish-brown, with a maxillary series of dark-brown spots and streaks across the breast and along sides. Ring round the eye, and superciliary stripe, yellowish. Central tail-feathers like the back, others dark blackish-brown; the external one white, except at the base within; a white spot at the end of the second. Primaries edged with whitish, other quills with pale brownish. Length, 6.50; wing, 3.45; tail, 2.95.

Hab. Whole of North America; Greenland; Bermuda; south to Orizaba, Guatemala, and even Peru? Heligoland, Europe. (Gätke.) Not noted in West Indies.

Anthus ludovicianus.

Spring specimens from Labrador, collected by Dr. Coues, have the upper parts ashy without any tinge of olive, almost bluish on the head; the lower parts deeper and more reddish-buff than in autumnal and winter specimens. Tarsi black in spring, brown in winter; toes always black.