_Anthus rubescens. Case 4, Fig. 62; Case 5, Fig. 17_
Outer tail-feathers white, bill slender, back
grayish. L. 6-1/2.
_Range._ Nests from Newfoundland to Greenland;
winters from Maryland to Florida and Mexico.
Washington, W.V., sometimes abundant, Oct. 2-May
12. Ossining, common T.V., Mch. 26-(?); Sept.
24-Nov. 16. Cambridge, T.V., abundant Sept.
20-Nov. 10; rare Apl. 10-May 20. N. Ohio, common
T.V., Apl. 6-May 20; Oct. 19. Glen Ellyn, not
common T.V., Apl. 15-; Sept. 30-Oct. 18. SE.
Minn., common T.V., May 4-; Oct.
At first glance a Pipit might be mistaken for a Sparrow--let us say, a
Vesper Sparrow; but note that it walks, instead of hops, that it
constantly wags or 'tips' its tail, that it has a slender, not stout
bill. Meadows, pastures, plowed fields, golf-courses, are frequented by
Pipits, usually in flocks of a dozen or more. When flushed, with a
faint _dee-dee_, they bound lightly into the air but usually soon return
to earth.
Sprague's Pipit (_Anthus spraguei_), a slightly smaller species, nests
in Montana, Dakota, and northward, and is sometimes found in small
numbers on the coast of South Carolina and Georgia in winter.