coast throughout the year, except on that portion which extends from the
Thames to the Humber, where it is only observed in spring and autumn
during the period of migration. For although a resident species,
inasmuch as individuals may be found on some parts of the coast
throughout the year, it is also, to a certain extent, migratory,
receiving a considerable accession to its numbers in spring, and a
corresponding diminution in autumn. It may be distinguished from the
common Meadow Pipit by its larger size, longer bill, tarsus, and toes,
and by its having the upper portion of its plumage of a greener olive.
The legs are of a much darker brown, and I have remarked that in
freshly-killed specimens the soles of the feet are yellow, a
circumstance which appears to have been generally overlooked, but which
is worth noticing as an addition to its distinguishing characters. A
considerable difference also will be observed in the two outer tail
feathers on each side. In the Meadow Pipit the outermost tail feather is
for the greater part white, and the next has half the tip of the inner
web also white. In the Rock Pipit the same parts of these feathers are
not white, although conspicuously lighter than the remaining portion.
The Rock Pipit found in Scandinavia (_Anthus rupestris_ of Nilsson), is
considered by some to be distinct from the species which frequents our
own shores, but, as I think, on extremely slender grounds. The points of
difference have been thus stated: “They consist, so far as we can
ascertain, merely in the presence of a bright buff or pale cinnamon
tinge on the breast of the male in _A. rupestris_, and perhaps in that
form being of a slighter build than _A. obscurus_. In the female of the
so-called _A. rupestris_ the warm colour is much more faintly indicated;
in some specimens it is doubtful whether it exists at all. The outer
tail feathers, which in _A. spinoletta_ afford so sure a diagnosis, are
in _A. rupestris_ just as dingy as in _A. obscurus_.”
There can be no doubt that the chemical constituents of colour in the
plumage of birds are always more or less affected by climatic agency;
and, this being so, one can hardly be justified in founding a new
species on mere variation of colour, where there is at the same time no
modification of structure. There can be little doubt that the
Scandinavian Rock Pipit is identical with our own bird, the slight
differences observable being easily accounted for through climate and
the season of the year at which specimens are obtained.
The late Mr. Wheelwright makes no mention of this bird when treating of
the ornithology of Lapland. Messrs. Godman met with it on the seashore
at Bodö, Norway, “in tolerable abundance,” and Mr. Hewitson also saw it
in Norway. Although Temminck says that it goes as far north as
Greenland, this does not appear to be the case; for Professor Reinhardt,
who has paid especial attention to the ornithology of Greenland, states
that only two species of Pipit are to be met with there—namely, the
American _Anthus ludovicianus_, which breeds there, and _A. pratensis_,
of which, as above stated, a single specimen only is recorded to have
been obtained. It is rather remarkable that Professor Blasius has not
included the Rock Pipit in the avifauna of Heligoland, seeing that _A.
cervinus_, _A. ludovicianus_, and _A. Richardi_ are all stated to have
been taken on that island.[42]
Although found upon the shores of Holland, Belgium, and France, it
either goes no farther to the south-west, or else it has been
overlooked; for neither Mr. Howard Saunders, in his “List of the Birds
of Southern Spain,” nor the Rev. A. C. Smith, in his “Sketch of the
Birds of Portugal,” give it a place in the avifauna of those countries.
Mr. C. A. Wright states (“Ibis,” 1869, p. 246) that he has only obtained
a single specimen in Malta. Further eastward, namely, on the coasts of
Epirus and Corfu, Lord Lilford found it to be common, and on this
account it has been included by Messrs. Elwes and Buckley in their “List
of the Birds of Turkey.” I am not sure whether it has been met with in
Asia Minor, but probably it does not extend either eastward or southward
beyond the coast line of the Mediterranean. The observations of
naturalists certainly tend to prove that its proper habitat is Northern
Europe, and perhaps nowhere is it commoner than in the British Islands.
[Illustration: TREE PIPIT]
THE TREE PIPIT.
(_Anthus arboreus._)
Although a regular summer visitant to England, the Tree Pipit, like the
Nightingale, from some unexplained cause, is distributed over a very
limited area. It never reaches Ireland, and is considered rare in
Scotland, although the nest has been found as far north as Dumbarton,
Aberdeen, Banff, and East Inverness.[43] Even in Wales and Cornwall it
is a scarce bird, so that England may be said to be the western limit of
its geographical range. Mr. Wheelwright never met with it in Lapland,
but Messrs. Godman found it in June as far north as Bodö, in Norway, and
from this latitude southwards to the Mediterranean it seems to be well
known in summer. Mr. Howard Saunders says that it is generally
distributed in Spain from autumn to spring, and he suspects that some
remain to breed on the high plateaux. In Portugal, according to the Rev.
A. C. Smith, it is rare. Mr. Wright, of Malta, states that it is very
common in the island in spring and autumn, departing in May northwards,
and returning in September and October. He adds that a few remain the
winter. According to the observations of Lord Lilford, it is now and
then seen at Corfu in winter, throughout which season it is found in
small flocks, apparently on passage to North Africa. Mr. Layard does not
include it in his “Birds of South Africa,” but, according to Professor
Sundevall (“Svenska Foglarna,” p. 41), a specimen was killed by Wahlberg
on the Limpopo, in Kaffirland, between lat. 25 deg. and 26 deg. S. Canon
Tristram found it sparingly distributed in Palestine in winter, and in
spring in the Jordan valley. It is recognised by naturalists in
north-west India, and there can be little doubt that the Pipit which has
been described from that country, and from China and Japan, under the
name of _Anthus agilis_, Sykes, is only our old friend _A. arboreus_ in
a different plumage from that which it assumes here in summer. Herr von
Pelzeln says[44] that _agilis_ only differs from _arboreus_ in having a
stouter bill, and he does not think that it can be specifically
distinct, notwithstanding that Dr. Jerdon gives both species as
inhabitants of India. On this point Mr. Hume says (“Ibis,” 1870, p.
287): “I took nine specimens of _arboreus_ from England and France, and
compared them with our Indian birds. There was no single one of them to
which an exact duplicate could not be selected from amongst my Indian
series. That all our Indian Pipits known as _agilis_, _maculatus_, and
_arboreus_ ought to be united as one species under the latter, or
possibly some older, name, I can now scarcely doubt.”
THE WATER PIPIT.
(_Anthus spinoletta._)
In size this bird equals our well-known Rock Pipit, but may be
distinguished by the vinous colour of the throat and breast, by the
absence of spots or streaks upon the under parts, and by the outer tail
feathers, which are marked with white, as in _A. pratensis_. It was
named _spinoletta_ from the provincial name applied to the bird in
Italy, whence Linnæus described it.[45] Pallas, however, altered the
name to “_pispoletta_,” because Cetti affirmed that this was the correct
Florentine term, and not _spinoletta_. Linnæus’s name, nevertheless, on
the ground of priority, is entitled to precedence. The species was
identified with _aquaticus_ of Bechstein by Bonaparte.[46]
This bird seems to have been first made known to English naturalists by
Mr. Thomas Webster, of Manchester, who, in a communication to the
“Zoologist” (p. 1023), stated that he had seen three birds at Fleetwood
in October, 1843, which he had not the slightest hesitation in
identifying with a Pipit described by M. Deby as _Anthus aquaticus_,
Bechstein, and which to all appearance were totally distinct from the
common Rock Pipit of our coast. In January, 1860, the Rev. M. A. Mathew,
in a letter to Mr. Gould, called attention to the fact of his having
procured a Pipit at Torquay, which was subsequently identified
unhesitatingly with _A. aquaticus_ of Bechstein. Since that date, Mr.
Gatcombe, of Plymouth, has noticed several other specimens in
Devonshire, and a great many have been procured in Sussex, chiefly in
the neighbourhood of Brighton. Thus the claim of this bird to rank as a
British species has come to be pretty well established. M. Baily, in his
“Ornithologie de la Savoie,” says that the Water Pipit is common at all
seasons of the year both in Switzerland and Savoy. During winter it
frequents the wet meadows, marshes, and unfrozen springs in the valleys,
and about the end of March or beginning of April ascends the mountains,
and resorts to the most sterile plateaux, fields, heaths, and stony
places in the neighbourhood of water, where it nests on the ground under
stones, sometimes in clefts in the rock, but oftener in the grass
beneath the bilberry, whortleberry, or some creeping bush.
In the fall of the year it descends to the warmer valleys and frequents
the margins of the rivers, whence it has derived the name of Water
Pipit, making its way gradually southward as winter approaches. Mr.
Saunders has met with it at Malaga in winter; but apparently it is not
common in Spain, and, according to the Rev. A. C. Smith (“Sketch of the
Birds of Portugal”) still less so in Portugal. Mr. Wright has met with
it once in Malta, having shot a specimen there in November, 1860. It
crosses the Mediterranean to North Africa. Canon Tristram met with it in
Algeria, and Captain Shelley recognised it in Egypt. In the peninsula of
Sinai it was found by Mr. C. W. Wyatt, frequenting the sides of the
salt-ponds near Tor, and it is included in Mr. Strickland’s list of the
birds of Asia Minor (“P. Z. S.,” 1836, p. 97) as being found on the
coast in winter at Smyrna, whence it penetrates to Palestine (Tristram,
“Ibis,” 1866, p. 289). Messrs. Elwes and Buckley have enumerated this
amongst other species in their list of the birds of Turkey, and
Ménétries states (“Cat. Rais. Caucas.,” p. 39) that it is common on the
shores of the Caspian in April, May, and June. The range of this bird
eastward is at present hardly determined; partly, perhaps, because the
Pipits have been a good deal neglected for the sake of more attractive
species, and partly on account of the difficulty which travellers
usually experience in the identification of this difficult group of
birds. That the Water Pipit penetrates to north-west India is to be
inferred from the fact that Mr. Hume sent M. Jules Verreaux a specimen
for identification from the Punjab west of the Sutlej.
[Illustration: RICHARD’S PIPIT]
RICHARD’S PIPIT.
(_Anthus Richardi._)
Out of compliment to the zealous amateur who first made known an example
captured in autumn in Lorraine, the name of Richard’s Pipit has been
bestowed on this bird, which is becoming better known to ornithologists
in this country every year. Its superior size, stouter bill, greater
length of leg, and longer hind claw, at once serve to distinguish it
from the commoner species. As compared with the Rock Pipit, the largest
of those with which we are most familiar, its dimensions are as follows:
Bill. Wing. Tarsus. Hind toe
Inches. Inches. Inches. with claw.
Inches.
_A. obscurus_ ·5 3·2 0·9 0·8
_A. Richardi_ ·6 3·6 1·2 1·2
Its occurrence in England has been noted, as might be expected, chiefly
on the east and south coasts, in every month between September and
April, both inclusive. At least fifty specimens have been seen or
procured, distributed as follows: Northumberland, 2; Norfolk, 5;
Shropshire, 1; Oxford, 1; Middlesex, 12; Kent, 3; Sussex, 5; Devonshire,
11; Cornwall and Scilly, 8. In the west of England, therefore, it would
appear to be very rare, and in Ireland it is unknown.
The most northern locality, I believe, whence this species has been
procured, is Heligoland, on which island, according to Professor
Blasius, it is said to have been obtained by Herr Gätke.[47]
When staying at Antwerp in May, 1870, I saw three or four specimens
which had been taken in that neighbourhood, but the owner of them
considered the bird a rarity there. Mr. Howard Saunders obtained a
couple near Malaga in the month of February, and learnt that in some
winters it is not uncommon in southern Spain (“Ibis,” 1870, p. 216).
Signor Bettoni, in his grand work on the birds which breed in Lombardy,
mentions Richard’s Pipit as one of the characteristic species of the
Lombard plains. “Nevertheless,” says Mr. Saunders (“Ibis,” 1869, p.
392), “he must not be understood to mean that it is in any way abundant,
or even constant in that province; for the Count Turati assured me that
it has never been discovered breeding there, and that, judging from the
number of specimens enumerated as obtained in England, it is more common
with us than with them. That its appearance is confined to the plains of
Lombardy is probably the author’s meaning.” In Malta it is only found
accidentally in spring and autumn, and Mr. Wright, who has paid so much
attention to the ornithology of that island, has only been able to
mention three examples as having come under his own notice.
It is rather singular that this bird should not cross the Mediterranean,
and be found with other European Pipits during the winter months in
North Africa. Nevertheless, I have not been able to find any mention of
it in any of the North African lists which I have consulted, neither is
it included in the late Mr. Strickland’s List of the Birds found in Asia
Minor in winter (“P. Z. S.,” 1836, p. 97).
It is much commoner, however, in Asia than in Europe. Mr. Hodgson found
it in Nepal,[48] and Mr. Hume says it breeds in Ladakh; Mr. Blyth has
recorded its occurrence in the neighbourhood of Calcutta, and Mr.
Blanford met with it in the Irawadi Valley. It is included by Sir R.
Schomburgk in his List of the Birds of Siam (“Ibis,” 1864, p. 249), and,
according to Mr. Swinhoe, is common in North China (Takoo and Peking) in
September, and in Amoy, Formosa, and Hainan in winter.
THE TAWNY PIPIT.
(_Anthus campestris._)
Easily mistaken for Richard’s Pipit, this bird is, however, of a more
sandy colour, and may be distinguished by its short hind claw. In
Richard’s Pipit, it will be remembered, the hind claw is very long. Its
real habitat may be said to be North Africa and Palestine. Canon
Tristram calls it the common Pipit of the Sahara, and Mr. O. Salvin
found it abundant on the plateau of Kef Laks and on the plains of
Djendeli, in the Eastern Atlas. In Upper Egypt and Sinai it is
occasionally plentiful, and is found all over the cultivated coast and
hill districts of Palestine, where it is a permanent resident.
“The soil of the Sahara,” says Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun. (“Ibis,” 1871, p.
85), “is in some places soft and sandy, in others hard and pebbly. The
Tawny Pipit affects the former, where there is little or no herbage. Its
flight is undulating, like that of the Wagtails; and, like the latter,
it twitters on the wing.” Canon Tristram, referring to the habits of
this species in Palestine, where he obtained several nests on the bare
hills, says (“Ibis,” 1866, p. 289), “It is one of the tamest of birds,
and particularly affects the mule paths, flitting along in front of the
traveller, and keeping unconcernedly a few yards ahead.” “The nest,”
says Mr. Salvin, “is composed of roots, with a lining of horsehair, and
is placed on the lee side of a bush. The eggs vary very much, some being
light-coloured, and almost like wagtails’, while others are much darker
and more profusely marked.”
Although, as above stated, North Africa and Palestine may be regarded as
its home, the Tawny Pipit ranges a long way to the north and south of
this tract, and is common in some parts of Southern Europe in summer. It
is found as far northward as Sweden—where, as Mr. Wheelwright has
remarked, it is confined to the sandy shores of the south—and
accidentally in England, where specimens have been several times
procured on the coasts of Sussex, and in Cornwall.[49]
Lord Lilford has observed that it is common in Spain in summer (“Ibis,”
1866, p. 178), an observation more recently confirmed by Mr. Howard
Saunders (“Ibis,” 1869, p. 392). In Portugal, according to the Rev. A.
C. Smith, it seems to be equally well known.
It is annually observed in Malta in spring and autumn, but never found
there during the winter months (Wright, “Ibis,” 1864, p. 61). Lieut.
Sperling, however, believes that it is not uncommon on the north coast
of the Mediterranean in winter. South of the habitat assigned to it,
this bird ranges through Abyssinia (whence I have seen a specimen in the
collection of African birds belonging to Mr. Sharpe) to Mozambique,
where, according to Lieut. Sperling, it is plentiful in winter; and Mr.
Layard has included it amongst the birds of South Africa, having
received specimens from Windvogelberg and the Knysna. It has a West
African representative in _Anthus Gouldii_ of Frazer (Hartlaub, “Orn.
West Afr.,” p. 73), which differs in its smaller size and darker colour,
and in having the head of a uniform dull brown, instead of being
streaked.
THE PENNSYLVANIAN PIPIT.
(_Anthus ludovicianus._)
On the authority of several good naturalists this species is stated to
have occurred several times in the British Islands; but the general
description of the specimens referred to applies as a rule so well to
the _Anthus spinoletta_ above mentioned, that it is extremely difficult
to say to which of the two species they belonged. It is of course far
more probable that the visitors to our shores would be of European, not
American, extraction. At the same time they have been described as
according so well in every respect with the American _ludovicianus_,
that we must either admit that the latter bird occasionally visits this
country, or agree with Richardson and Swainson (“Faun. Bor. Americana,”
ii. p. 231) that it is indistinguishable from _aquaticus_ of Bechstein,
that is, _spinoletta_ of Linnæus.
Edwards was the first to notice this bird as a visitant to England,
giving a description and figure of a specimen obtained near London in
his “Gleanings” (vol. ii. p. 185, pl. 297). Montagu shortly afterwards
noticed two in his “Ornithological Dictionary,” one of which had been
taken in Middlesex, the other near Woolwich.
Macgillivray, in his “Manual of British Birds,” p. 169, minutely
describes two Pipits which were shot near Edinburgh in June, 1824, and
which he identifies clearly with the American species.
Mr. Turnbull, in his “Birds of East Lothian,” states (p. 40) that three
Pennsylvanian Pipits were shot at Dunbar in East Lothian by Mr. Robert
Gray, of Glasgow.
Mr. Bond has a Pipit, identified as belonging to this species, which was
obtained at Freshwater, in the Isle of Wight, in September, 1865; while
the most recent instance of the occurrence of this Pipit in England will
be found in the “Zoologist” for 1870. But anyone who reads the
correspondence relating to this instance (“Zool.” tom. cit. pp. 2021,
2067, and 2100) will see how difficult it is to identify a species when
the specimen is not in fully adult plumage.
When it is remembered that _Anthus ludovicianus_, as stated by Professor
Reinhardt (“Ibis,” 1861, p. 3), breeds in Greenland, and, according to
Professor Blasius, is found in Heligoland (“Naumannia,” 1858), it is
certainly not improbable that it should occasionally be found in the
British Islands. At the same time it is very desirable that some more
convincing evidence than that which already exists of its occurrence
here should be placed upon record.
THE RED-THROATED PIPIT.
(_Anthus cervinus._)
The present bird has, as yet, been scarcely admitted into the British
list. I have seen a specimen in the collection of Mr. Bond, which was
killed at Unst, Shetland, on the 4th May, 1854, and about the same year,
but in September, another in the same collection was shot at Freshwater
in the Isle of Wight.
In the adult plumage the species is easily recognized by the ruddy brown
colouring of the upper portions of the plumage, and by the rufous patch
upon the throat.
In size it is equal to the Meadow Pipit, and by some naturalists it has
been considered a permanent race or variety of that species; but the
observations of Prof. Newton on this point[50] certainly tend to show
that the species is a valid one. It was met with by him in June, 1855,
when in company with Messrs. Wolley and Simpson, in a restricted
locality in East Finmark, between Wadsö and Nyborg, and several
well-identified nests were procured. A specimen procured in Heligoland
is in Herr Gätke’s collection.
It is not uncommon as a winter visitant in Turkey, and Mr. Wright has
shot many specimens in Malta, where he says it arrives in small flocks
in spring and autumn. In Egypt and Nubia this bird quite takes the place
of _A. pratensis_, and is sometimes very common there. It probably
winters also in Palestine, although Canon Tristram, during his sojourn
there at that season, only met with a single specimen on the coast of
the plain of Sharon. It has been found in China, Japan, Formosa, and
Hainan, by Mr. Swinhoe, who suggests that this bird in its winter
plumage is the _Anthus japonicus_ of Temminck and Schlegel. Mr. Blyth
thinks that it should probably be erased from the Indian list, as the
ordinary Himalayan species, _A. rosaceus_ of Hodgson, has been
confounded with it. Upon this point, however, much difference of opinion
prevails. Dr. Jerdon, in his “Birds of India,” gives _rosaceus_ as a
synonym of _cervinus_, and Mr. Hume is puzzled to distinguish _rosaceus_
from _arboreus_. He says (“Ibis,” 1870, p. 288): “Typical examples of
both species seem unmistakably distinct, but intermediate forms of the
most puzzling character occur, of such a nature that it really seems to
me impossible to decide to which species they ought to be referred.”
Professor Newton considers that the Red-throated Pipit is as yet
scarcely entitled to a place in the list of British Birds; nevertheless
it is a bird, as he says, whose migratory habits and wide north-eastern
range make it very likely to occur in this country, and probably its
recognition as an occasional visitor to the British Islands is only a
matter of time and observation.
[Illustration: SPOTTED FLYCATCHER]
THE SPOTTED FLYCATCHER.
(_Muscicapa grisola._)
The family of Flycatchers is a very large one, having representatives in
all parts of the globe; but in the British Islands two species only can
with propriety be included in the list of annual summer migrants. It is
true that at least one other species has been met with in this country,
to which allusion will be made presently; but it cannot be regarded in
any other light than that of a rare and accidental visitant.
The Spotted Flycatcher (_Muscicapa grisola_), as remarked by the eminent
Irish naturalist, Thompson, is probably little known, except to the
observant ornithologist. Owing to the dulness of its plumage, its want
of song, and its weak call being seldom heard, it is certainly one of
the least obtrusive of our birds; the trees, too, having put forth their
“leafy honours” before the period of its arrival, further serve to
screen it from observation. It is one of the latest of our summer
migrants to arrive, seldom appearing before the second week in May, and
generally taking its departure during the first week of September. It is
found throughout the British Islands, but is much less common in
Scotland. It has, however, been found breeding as far north as
Sutherland and Caithness. The situation selected by this bird for its
abode during its stay with us is generally in the neighbourhood of
gardens and orchards, where it takes up its quarters on a wall or fruit
tree, and sallies forth into the air after passing insects. The name of
Spotted Flycatcher is more appropriately bestowed upon the bird in its
immature plumage, when each brown feather is tipped with a buff spot. As
it grows older, these spots gradually disappear. It is a wonderfully
silent bird, and even when the hen is sitting the male does not, like
the males of so many other species, pour forth a song to enliven her.
The nest is usually placed on a beam in a shed, in a hole in a wall, or
on the branch of a wall-fruit tree, partially supported by the wall; not
unfrequently it may be discovered in a summer-house. It is neatly
composed of moss and fine roots, and lined with grass, horsehair, and
feathers. The eggs, generally five in number, are bluish white, spotted,
chiefly at the large end, with reddish brown.