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Family MOTACILLIDÆ.—The Wagtails
Char. Bill slender, conical, nearly as high as wide at the base, with slight notch at the tip; the culmen slightly concave above the anterior extremity of the nostrils; short bristles at gape, which, however, do not extend forward to nostrils. Loral feathers soft and dense, but with bristly points; nasal groove filled with naked membrane, with the elongated nostrils in lower edge; the frontal feathers coming up to the aperture, but not directed forward nor overhanging it. Wings lengthened and sharp-pointed; the primaries nine (without spurious first), of which the first three to five, considerably longer than the succeeding, form the tip; the exterior secondaries generally much emarginated at the ends; the inner secondaries (so-called tertials) nearly equal to the longest primaries. The tail rather narrow, emarginate. Tarsi lengthened, scutellate anteriorly only, the hind claw usually very long, acute, and but slightly curved (except in Motacilla). Inner toe cleft almost to the very base, outer adherent for basal joint only.
The combination of naked nostrils, notched bill, and nine primaries, with the tarsi scutellate anteriorly only, will at once distinguish the Anthinæ of this family from the Alaudidæ, which they so closely resemble in coloration, habits, and lengthened hind claw. The lengthened, slightly curved hind claw, much pointed wings, emarginated secondaries,—the inner ones nearly as long as the primaries,—distinguish the family from the Sylvicolidæ, with which also it has near relationships.
Subfamilies and Genera.
Motacillinæ. Tail longer than or equal to wings; the two central feathers rather longer than lateral; the feathers broadest in middle, whence they taper gradually to the rounded tip. Colors uniform: gray, black, yellowish; without pale edges to feathers above, or streaks below.
Tail from coccyx considerably longer than the wings, doubly forked. Hind claw shorter than the toe; decidedly curved … Motacilla.
Tail from coccyx equal to the wings, slightly graduated. Hind claw decidedly longer than the toe, slightly curved … Budytes.
Anthinæ. Tail shorter than the wings, emarginate at end, the two central shorter than lateral; the feathers broadest near the end, and rounding rapidly at end. Above grayish-brown, the feathers edged with paler. Under parts streaked.
Wings much pointed and lengthened.
Hind toe and claw shorter than tarsus; outstretched toes falling short of tip of tail … Anthus.
Hind toe and claw longer than tarsus; outstretched toes extending beyond tip of tail … Neocorys.
Wings short and rounded.
Point of wings formed by outer four primaries of nearly equal length … Notiocorys.30
Point of wing formed by outer five primaries, the first shorter than the third … Pediocorys.31
PLATE X.
1. Motacilla alba, Linn. Europe.
2. Budytes flava, Linn. Alaska, 45912.
3. Anthus ludovicianus, Gm. Labrador, 18081.
4. Anthus pratensis, Linn. Europe, 18590.
5. Neocorys spraguei, Aud. ♀ Dacota, 1884.
6. Mniotilta varia, Linn. ♂ Pa., 18685.
7. Parula americana, Linn. ♂ Pa., 53385.
8. Protonotaria citrea, Bodd. Ill., 1011.
9. Helmitherus swainsoni, Aud. S. C., 1054.
10. Helmitherus vermivorus, Gm. Pa., 2148.
Subfamily MOTACILLINÆ
Genus MOTACILLA, Linn
Motacilla, Linn. Syst. Nat. (Type, Motacilla alba.)
The diagnosis already given of Motacilla will serve to define it. The genus is an Old World one, represented by several species, only one of which (M. alba) is entitled to a place here from occurring in Greenland.
Motacilla alba, Linn
WHITE WAGTAIL
Motacilla alba, Linn. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. 1766, 331.—Keys. & Blas. Wirb. Europ. 1840, xlix, and 174.—Degland, Orn. Europ. I, 1849, 433.—Reinhardt, Ibis, 1861, 6 (Greenland).—Newton, Baring-Gould’s Iceland, 1863, App. (“rather plentiful”).—Baird, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 152.
Figure: Gould, Birds Europe, 143.
Motacilla alba.
28489
Sp. Char. (9,410 ♂, Nürnberg). Forehead as far back as above the eyes, with sides of head and neck, white; the remaining portion of head and neck above and below to the jugulum, black; the rest of under parts white. Upper parts ashy-gray, including rump; the upper tail-coverts tinged with black. Wings with two conspicuous bands and the outer edges of the secondaries white. Tail-feathers black; the outer two white, edged with black internally. Bill and legs black. Tip of wing formed by outer three primaries; the distance between the third and fourth about one third that between the fourth and fifth. Tarsi lengthened; claw small; hind toe and claw shorter than the middle, its claw short, considerably curved, less than the toe alone; lateral toes nearly equal. Length, 7.30; wing, 3.45; tail, 3.90; bill from nostril, .37; tarsus, .86; hind toe and claw, .50.
Hab. Continental Europe, rarer in England; Iceland; Greenland (only two specimens seen); Siberia; Syria; Nubia, etc.
Motacilla yarrelli, a closely allied species, by some considered a variety only, differs in having the rump black, the ashy of the back glossed with blackish, and with the black edging of the lateral tail-feathers broader.
Motacilla alba.
Habits. The common White Wagtail of Europe claims a place in the North American fauna as an occasional visitant of Greenland, where in two instances single specimens have been procured. It is found in all portions of the European Continent, from the islands of the Mediterranean as far north as the Arctic regions. It appears in Sweden in April, and leaves there in October. Mr. Gould states also that it is found in the northern portions of Africa, and in the highlands of India. It also occurs, though less frequently, in England, where it is replaced by a local race, or an allied species, Motacilla yarrelli of Gould. The Motacilla alba is said by Temminck to inhabit meadows in the vicinity of streams of water, villages, and old houses. Its food is chiefly insects in various stages and of different kinds.
It builds its nest on the ground among the grass of the meadow, in fissures in rocks or decayed buildings, among the roots of trees, on the banks of streams, in piles of wood and fagots, or under the arch of a bridge. The nests are somewhat coarsely constructed of interwoven dry bent stems of plants and reeds, with a finer lining of the same. The eggs, six in number, are of a bluish-white ground thickly sprinkled with fine dottings, which are most usually of a blackish-brown color, sometimes ashy-gray or reddish-brown.
The Pied Wagtail, M. yarrelli, Degland and Gerbe regard as a race, and not a species. It has a limited habitat, confined to Norway, Sweden, and the British Islands, in the latter of which it is a resident throughout the year. Besides their difference in plumage, Mr. Yarrell has noticed certain differences also of habit. The alba is said not to be so partial to water as the pied species, and though often found near ploughed land, does not, like its kindred species, follow the plough in search of insects. Mr. Hewitson also states that it has a hoarser voice.
Like all the birds of this family, the Wagtail is much admired for the elegance of its form, its activity, and the airy lightness of its motions. It seems ever on the move, runs with great rapidity a quick succession of steps in pursuit of its food, and goes from place to place in short undulating flights. It has a cheerful chirping note which it utters while on the wing. When it alights, it gives a graceful fanning movement with its tail, from which it derives its name.
The Pied Wagtail, whose habits have been more closely observed by English naturalists, has frequently been seen to wade into the water in search of aquatic insects, and probably also of small fish, as in confinement they have been known to catch and feed on minnows in a fountain in the centre of their aviary. It is probable that the habits of the White Wagtail are not dissimilar.
They leave their breeding-places in October, collecting and moving in small flocks.
Their eggs measure .79 of an inch in length and .59 in breadth. The ground-color is of a grayish-white so thickly flecked with fine ash-colored and black dots as to give the entire egg the effect of a uniform dark ashen hue.
Genus BUDYTES, Cuvier
Budytes, Cuvier, R. A. 1817. (Type, Motacilla flava, Linn.)
Budytes flava.
45912
The recent discovery of a species of yellow-bellied Wagtail in Norton Sound, by the naturalists of the Russian Telegraph Expedition, adds another member of an Old World family to the list of American birds. Much confusion exists as to the precise number of species in the genus, some grouping together as varieties what others consider as distinct species. There is an unusual degree of variation with age, sex, and season, and this, combined with strongly marked geographical peculiarities, renders the proper solution of the problem impossible to any but those having access to large series.
Budytes flava, Linn
YELLOW WAGTAIL
Motacilla flava, Linn. Syst. Nat. I (1766), 33.—Finsch & Hartlaub, Vögel Ostafrikas, 268. Budytes flava, Bon. (1838).—Middendorff, Sibirische Reise, II, ii (1852), 168.—Degland & Gerbe, Ornith. Europ. I (1867), 376.—Baird, Trans. Chicago Acad. Sci. I, ii, p. 312, pl. xxx, fig. 1; 1869.—Dall & Bannister, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 127.—Tristram, Ibis, 1871, 231.—Finsch, 1872.
Sp. Char. Description of specimen No. 45,912, taken at St. Michael’s, Norton Sound, June 6, 1866, by H. M. Bannister. Above, including edges of upper tail-coverts, rich olive-green, the top and sides of the head and neck pure ash-gray; chin and well-marked stripe from nostrils over the eye to the nape, white; all under parts rich yellow, tinged with olive on the sides. Stripe from corner of mouth through the eye, and involving the ear-coverts, blackish-ash. Feathers of wings and tail dark brown; the coverts and secondaries edged with olive (showing the obscure light wing-bars), the longest of the latter edged externally with white; innermost quills edged externally with white. Outer three quills nearly equal and longest (the prolonged secondaries as long), the others graduating less. Outer tail-feathers and shaft white; the inner web edged externally with dusky, which, beginning at the base, runs out gradually to the edge, about half an inch from tip of feathers; second feather with rather less white, and with a narrow line of brown along the outer side of the shaft to within half an inch of the tip. Bill and legs blackish.
Budytes flava.
Dimensions (prepared specimen). Total length, 6.00; wing, 3.00; tail, 3.00; exposed portion of first primary, 2.30. Bill: length from forehead, 0.58; from nostril, 0.35; along gape, 0.57. Legs: tarsus, 0.91; middle toe and claw, 0.70; claw alone, 0.16; hind toe and claw, 0.65; claw alone, 0.36.
A second specimen (No. 45,910) differs in having ashy color of head obscured with olivaceous-brown; and the yellow on breast showing brownish bases. The light markings on the wings more distinct and whiter.
Another bird (No. 45,913), taken on shipboard, about ninety miles west of St. Matthew’s Island, Behring’s Sea, August 10, 1866, appears to be of the same species, in autumnal dress. Here the upper colors are more brown; the lower parts yellowish-white tinged with brownish-fulvous across the breast and flank. Kamtschatkan specimens of the same stage of plumage are very similar.
I am unable to distinguish this species from the Protean Budytes flava of Europe and Asia. Many different races appear to be found throughout this wide circle of distribution, many of them more or less local, but the proportions and general character are the same in all, and the general tendency appears to be to unite all into one species. The sexes and ages of all the species, real or supposed, vary very much, and, in the absence of a large series, I can throw no light upon the obscurities of the subject. I cite above the latest general work on the birds of Europe, in which will be found the principal synonymes.
The specimens from Alaska submitted for examination to Mr. H. B. Tristram were identified by him as the B. flava.
Habits. The Gray-headed Wagtail of Europe finds a place in the fauna of North America as a bird of Alaska, where specimens have been obtained, and where it is, at least, an occasional visitant. It is not a common bird of the British Islands, where it is replaced by a closely allied species. Only seven or eight instances of its occurrence were known to Mr. Yarrell.
On the continent of Europe it is quite an abundant species, inhabiting wet springy places in moist meadows, and frequenting the vicinity of water and the gravelly edges of rivers. It is numerous in all the central portions of Europe. It has also an extensive northern and eastern geographical range, appearing in Norway and Sweden as early as April and remaining there until September. Linnæus met with it in Lapland on the 22d of May. It occurs in Algeria, Nubia, and Egypt. Mr. Gould has received it from the Himalayas, and Temminck gives it as a bird of Japan.
According to Degland, this bird is a very abundant species in France, where it nests on the ground in the cornfields, in open fields, meadows, and amidst the standing grain. It lays from four to six eggs, of a brownish-yellow on a reddish-white ground, profusely covered with fine dots of reddish-gray, which are more or less confluent. A few zigzag lines of dark brown or black are found on the larger end. They measure .63 of an inch in length and .55 in breadth. Its food is flies, moths, small green caterpillars, and aquatic insects.
Ray’s Wagtail, recognized by some authors as a distinct species, is probably only an insular race, chiefly found in the British Islands and in Western France. In the latter place both birds occur, and here also they have been known to mate the one with the other. Their nests and eggs are so alike as not to be distinguishable. The former are constructed of fine fibrous roots and fine stems of grasses, and are lined with hair.
These birds are remarkably social, collecting in small flocks soon after leaving their nests, and until their autumnal migrations following the older birds in quest of food. They have two call-notes which are quite shrill, and are repeated in succession, the second being lower in tone. No mention is made by the naturalists of the Telegraph Expedition of their having any song other than these notes.
Mr. Bannister first observed this species at St. Michael’s, on the 9th or 10th of June, and from that time until late in August they were among the most abundant of the land-birds. During the month of June he observed them in flocks of twenty or thirty individuals. It seemed to be a rather shy bird. He described its flight as like that of our common Goldfinch, rising with a few strokes of its wings, then closing them and describing a sort of paraboloidal curve in the air. The only note which he heard and identified as uttered by this species was a kind of faint chirp, hardly to be called a song. These birds seemed to prefer the open country, and were rarely observed in the low brush, the only approach to woods found on the island.
Subfamily ANTHINÆ
The characters of this subfamily have already been detailed. The American sections may be defined as follows, although whether entitled to rank as genera may be questioned:—
Common Characters. Tail decidedly shorter than the wings; less than half the whole length of bird; simply emarginate and rounded. Hind claw lengthened; only slightly curved. Feathers of back with paler edges; breast streaked with dusky. Nest on the ground; eggs finely mottled so as almost to be uniform dark brown (in North American species).
a. Wings much pointed, and lengthened
Point of wing formed by four outer primaries, of which the fourth sometimes a little shorter than the third. Hind toe and claw as long as middle, shorter than tarsus, the claw alone usually a little longer than the toe itself, and slightly curved; inner toe and claw longer than the outer; outstretched toes falling short of the tip of tail; hind toe and claw shorter than tarsus … Anthus.
Point of wings formed by four outer primaries, the first longest, or as long as others. Legs stout, the outstretched toes reaching almost to tip of tail. Hind toe and claw longer than tarsus, the claw very long, but equal to the toe proper … Neocorys.
b. Wings short, rounded
Genus ANTHUS, Bechst
Anthus, Bechst. Gemein. Naturg. Deutschl. 1802. (Type, Alauda spinoletta.)
Anthus ludovicianus.
328
Char. Bill slender, much attenuated, and distinctly notched. A few short bristles at the base. Culmen concave at the base. Tarsi quite distinctly scutellate; longer than the middle toe; inner lateral toe the longer. Hind toe rather shorter than the tarsus, but longer than the middle toe, owing to the long, attenuated, and moderately curved hind claw, which is considerably more than half the total length of the toe. Tail rather long, emarginate. Wing very long, considerably longer than the lengthened tail, reaching to its middle. The first primary nearly equal to the longest. The tertials almost as long as the primaries.
But one species of this genus belongs properly to North America, although a second is accidental in Greenland and Alaska. The diagnoses are as follows:—
Bill and feet blackish. Prevailing color above olive-brown. Beneath buff. Edge and inside of wings white. Shafts of middle tail-feathers above dark brown … A. ludovicianus.
Bill and feet dusky flesh-color. Prevailing color above olive-green; more distinctly streaked. Beneath greenish-white. Edge and inside of wings greenish-yellow. Shafts of middle tail-feathers above whitish … A. pratensis.
Zander (Cabanis Journal, Extraheft I, 1853, 64) states that Anthus cervinus, Pallas, is found in the Aleutian Islands. It is described as having
The feet yellowish-brown; the two longest under tail-coverts with a blackish longitudinal spot; the longest tertial almost equal to the longest primary; the shaft of the first tail-feather mostly white; no green on the plumage; the throat rust-color.
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.
Habits. At different seasons of the year the Brown Titlark is found throughout the continent, and abundant for the time in the several parts of the country, chiefly frequenting the least cultivated portions and apparently preferring the sterile and least attractive regions. It is one of the most extensively distributed of all our North American birds, being found in immense numbers over the whole length and breadth of North America. Gambel met them in large numbers in New Mexico and California; Richardson found them on the plains of the Saskatchewan; it is abundant in the Arctic regions from May to October, and is equally common on the coast of Labrador; Mr. Dall found it universal from British Columbia north. It is also found in Florida, Cape St. Lucas, Mexico, and Central America. Accidental specimens have occurred in Europe.
This lark is a bird of easy and beautiful flight, passing and repassing through the air with graceful evolutions, and when moving to new localities, sweeping over the place several times before alighting. It also moves rapidly on the ground and after the manner of the true larks, jerking the tail like our Water-Thrushes and the European Wagtails.
When feeding on the open ground in the interior, their food is chiefly insects and small seeds. On the banks of rivers and on the seashore they are fond of running along the edge of the water, searching among the drift for insects, small shells, and crustaceans. Near New Orleans and Charleston, in the winter, Mr. Audubon found them feeding, in company with the Turkey Buzzard, upon garbage.
Dr. Coues found the Titlark abundant in every locality visited by him in Labrador, giving him an ample opportunity to observe its habits during the breeding-season. He found them on some of the most rocky and barren islands along the coast. They frequented only the open, bare, and exposed situations, such as that coast everywhere afforded, and were never found in wooded localities. The nests of this species found by him were identical in situation, form, and construction, placed on the sides of steep, precipitous chasms, in small cavities in the earth, into which dry moss had been introduced to keep the nest from the damp ground. They were composed entirely of coarse, dry grasses loosely put together, without any lining. Their external diameter was six inches, and the depth of the cavity two inches.
Dr. Coues describes the song of the male bird as very sweet and pleasant. Mr. Audubon speaks of it as consisting of a few clear and mellow notes when on the wing, and when standing erect on the rocks it produces a clearer and louder song.
Dr. Coues speaks of their flight as undulating and unsteady, and never protracted to any great distance. They never alight on bushes, but always on the ground, where they run with great ease and rapidity. At low tides they resorted to the muddy flats, where they ran about upon the eel-grass, searching for their food in company with the small Sandpipers and in a similar manner, finding there an abundance of food. At all times they exhibited a heedless familiarity and an entire want of fear of man, feeding unconcernedly around the doors of the houses, and searching for their insect food on the roofs of the sheds and dwellings.
Both birds incubate and sit so closely that they may almost be trodden upon before they are willing to leave their nest, and even then only flutter off to a short distance, with loud cries of distress that soon bring the mate and other pairs of the same species to join in the lamentations. They hover over the heads of the intruders, at times approaching within a few feet, expressing their distress by the most plaintive cries, and even when the intruders withdraw following them to a considerable distance.
All the nests of this lark that I have seen are remarkable for the thickness of their walls, and the strength, compactness, and elaborate care with which the materials are put together, particularly for nests built on the ground. They are well suited to protect their contents from the cold, damp ground on which they are placed; and their upper portions are composed of stout vegetable stems, lichens, and grasses strongly interwoven, and forming a strong rim around the upper part of the nest.
Dr. Coues describes their eggs as of a dark chocolate-color, indistinctly marked with numerous small lines and streaks of black. Audubon describes them as having a ground-color of a deep reddish-chestnut, darkened by numerous dots of deeper reddish-brown and lines of various sizes, especially toward the larger end. Those in my possession, received from Labrador by Thienemann, measure from .75 to .78 of an inch in length, and from .59 to .62 in breadth, and have a light-brown or clay-colored ground, so thickly covered with spots as to be almost concealed. These spots are of a purplish chocolate-brown, with occasional darker lines about the larger end. In others the markings are bolder and larger and of brighter hues. Like the eggs of the Anthus arboreus of Europe, it is probable that those of this Titlark exhibit great variations, both in ground-color and in the shades of their markings.
Anthus pratensis, Bechst
EUROPEAN PIPIT
Alauda pratensis, Linn. Syst. Nat. 1766, 287. Anthus pratensis, Bechst. Deutsch. Vögel, III, 1807, 732.—Keys. & Blas. Wirb. Europas, 1840, 172.—Zander, Cab. Jour. I, extraheft, 1853, 60.—Paulsen, ed. Hölboll, Faun. Grönlands, 1846, 24.—Reinhardt, Ibis, 1861, 6.—Newton, Baring-Gould’s Iceland, 1863.—Baird, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 155.
Figures: Gould’s Birds Europe, pl. cxxxvi.
Hab. Europe generally; common in Lapland; accidental in Greenland; St. Michael’s, Norton Sound.
This species in general form resembles the A. ludovicianus, the fifth primary in both being abruptly and considerably shorter than the outer four; the bill and legs quite similar. The average size appears much the same. The upper parts are, however (especially the head and back), more distinctly streaked with dusky; the edge and inside of wing greenish-yellow, not white, and the upper plumage and outer edges of the quills decidedly olive-green. The shafts of the middle tail-feathers above are whitish, not dark brown; the under parts greenish-white, conspicuously streaked with dark brown. The bill is dusky, the base and edges paler; the legs dusky flesh-color, not dark brown.
The occurrence of this species in Greenland was noticed in the Review; and since the publication of that work a specimen has been obtained at St. Michael’s, in Alaska, by Mr. W. H. Dall, and is now in the Smithsonian collection. The specimen in question appears to be the true pratensis.
Habits. This European species claims a place in the North American fauna on the ground of a single specimen having been found in Greenland, in 1845, and one at St. Michael’s, Norton Sound. In the Old World it is the counterpart of our ludovicianus, which, in all respects, it closely resembles. It is the most common and the best known of European Titlarks. In Great Britain, where it is found throughout the year, it appears to prefer the uncultivated districts, inhabiting commons and waste lands, and in the more northern parts frequenting the moors. It is also found in meadows and marsh lands, in winter seeking more sheltered places. It is rarely seen to alight on a branch or to sit on a rail. Its song is soft and musical, and is usually uttered when on the wing or when vibrating over its nest. It seeks its food altogether on the ground, running nimbly in pursuit of insects, slugs, and worms. According to Yarrell its nest is built on the ground, generally among the grass. It is composed externally of dried sedges, lined with finer materials and some hair. The eggs are six in number, of a reddish-brown color, mottled over with darker shades of the same, and measure .80 by .60 of an inch.
According to the observations of English naturalists, this bird resorts to various ingenious devices to conceal its nest, or to draw aside attention from it, such as feigning lameness when it is approached, and concealing it by artificial covering when it has been once discovered.
The Meadow Pipit is common during the summer months in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, visiting also the Faroe Islands and Iceland. It inhabits the whole continent of Europe as far south as Spain, Italy, and Sicily. It has also been found in Northern Africa, and, according to Gould, in Western Asia. Temminck also states it to be among the birds of Japan.
According to Degland these larks, after the breeding-season, unite in small flocks, probably families, and frequent low and damp localities. In summer they are more often found on high and dry mountain plains. Their flesh is said to be delicious.
Genus NEOCORYS, Sclater
Neocorys, Sclater, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. Lond. 1857, 5. (Type, Alauda spraguei, Aud.)
Char. Bill half as long as the head; the culmen concave at the base, slightly decurved at the tip. Rictus without bristles. Legs stout; tarsi distinctly scutellate, longer than the middle toe. Hind toe very long, equal to the tarsus, much longer than the middle toe; its claw but slightly curved, and about half the total length. Inner lateral toe rather longer than outer. Wings much longer than tail; first quill longest. Tertials considerably longer than secondaries. Tail rather short, emarginate.
But one species of this genus is known, it being peculiar to the Western plains.
Neocorys spraguei, Sclat
MISSOURI SKYLARK; SPRAGUE’S PIPIT
Alauda spraguei, Aud. Birds Am. VII, 1843, 335, pl. cccclxxxvi. Agrodoma spraguei, Baird, Stansbury’s Rep. 1852, 329. Neocorys spraguei, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1857, 5.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 234.—Blakiston, Ibis, 1862, 4 (Saskatchewan).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 80. Anthus (Neocorys) spraguei, Baird, Rev. 155.
Sp. Char. Above wood-brown, all the feathers edged with paler, especially on the neck, where there is a brownish-yellow tinge. The under parts are dull white, with a collar of sharply defined narrow brown streaks across the forepart and along the sides of the breast. Lores and a superciliary line whitish. Tail-feathers, except the middle ones, dark brown; the outer one white, the second white, with the inner margin brown. The outer primary is edged with white, and there are two dull whitish bands across the wings. Bill and feet yellow, the former brown above. Length (female), 5.75; wing, 3.35; tail, 2.50.
