The MEADOW PIPIT, or MEADOW TITLING (Anthus pratensis), is of a greenish
brown, spotted with brownish black on the upper portion of the body;
the breast is light rust-red, spotted with dark brown; the throat and
belly are whitish, and a yellowish white streak passes over the eyes;
the quills are brownish black, with light edges, and the feathers of the
wing-covers bordered with dull green; the tail-feathers are brownish
black, edged with olive-green, those at the exterior decorated with a
large white spot at the tip. The eye is dark brown, the beak grey, and
the foot reddish grey. This species is six inches long, and nine and a
half broad; the wing measures two inches and five-sixths, and the tail
two inches and a quarter. The female is a trifle smaller than her mate.
The Meadow Pipit is known to breed in all the northern half of the
European continent, and is also met with in North-western Asia and North
Africa. During the course of its journeyings in Egypt it usually settles
near the coast among marshes, or near fields that are lying under water.
In the British Isles it remains throughout the year, and is known in
the lake district as the "Ling Bird," from the constancy with which it
frequents the moors overgrown with heather or _ling_ in that part of
the country. Like the Larks it migrates in large flocks, and frequently
in company with those birds, travelling day and night; it usually makes
its appearance in this country about March, leaving again in November
or December. Meadows, marsh-lands, or commons, afford the resorts it
prefers, but it generally avoids arid or barren districts. The movements
and habits of this species resemble those of other members of its family;
it lives on excellent terms with birds of its own kind, but constantly
exhibits a strong desire to annoy and irritate its other feathered
companions.
"When progressing from place to place," says Mr. Yarrell, "the flight of
this bird is performed by short unequal jerks, but when in attendance
on its mate, and undisturbed, it rises with an equal vibratory motion,
and sings some musical soft notes on the wing, sometimes while hovering
over its nest, and returns to the ground after singing. Occasionally it
may be seen to settle on a low bush, but is rarely observed sitting on a
branch of a tree, or perched on a rail, which is the common habit of the
Tree Pipit. The Meadow Pipit, when standing on a slight mound of earth, a
clod, or a stone, frequently moves his tail up and down like a Wagtail."
The nest is placed on the ground, sometimes so much sunk as to be with
difficulty perceived; sometimes sheltered by a tuft of grass. It is
composed externally of stems and leaves of grass, lined with finer grass,
fibres, and hair.
W. Thompson, Esq., in his valuable communications on the natural history
of Ireland, says that "A friend at Cromac has frequently found the nest
of the Meadow Pipit on the banks of watercourses and drains, as well as
on the ground in fields. One which was known to him at the side of a
drain was discovered by some bird-nesting boys, who pulled away the grass
that concealed it. On visiting it the next day he observed a quantity of
withered grass laid regularly across the nest; on removing this, which,
from its contrast in colour with the surrounding grass, he considered
must have been placed there by the boys, the bird flew off the nest, and,
on his returning the following day, he found the grass similarly placed,
and perceived a small aperture beneath it, by which the bird took its
departure, thus indicating that the screen, which harmonised so ill with
the surrounding verdure, had been brought thither by the bird itself.
The same gentleman once introduced the egg of a Hedge Accentor into a
Meadow Pipit's nest containing two of its own eggs, but, after a third
egg was laid, the nest was 'abandoned.'" "This, however," observes Mr.
Yarrell, "was probably induced by the visits of the observer rather than
by the introduction of the strange egg, as the egg of the Cuckoo is more
frequently deposited and hatched in the nest of the Meadow Pipit than in
that of any other bird."
The eggs, four or five in number, have a dirty white or dull red shell,
thickly strewn with brownish spots and streaks; they are generally
hatched in thirteen days. The young leave the nest before they can fly,
but conceal themselves with such adroitness at the first alarm of danger
that they are rarely discovered. The first brood is produced in the
beginning of May, and by the end of July the nestlings are capable of
providing for themselves.