Family ANTIIID/E.
P ip it s .
We have here a group of birds which are more generally spread than the Wagtails, inasmuch as they are
diffused over both divisions of the globe, but which are far less numerous in the older portion than the new.
Like most other large groups they have been divided and subdivided into many g e n e ra ; those frequenting
England I have retained under the old genus- Anthus, and commence with one o f the finest known species.
136. A n t h u s R ic h a r d i Vol. III. PI. VIII.
R ic h a r d ’s P i p i t .
An accidental visitant to the British Islands, where it is generally seen in winter and spring. The other
countries frequented by it are Continental Europe, India, China, and in fact the whole o f the temperate
regions o f the Old World.
137. A n th u s cam pe st r is . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. III. PI. IX.
T awny P i p i t .
Common in the champagne parts of France and other portions o f Central Europe. Has been killed
in England, and may therefore be regarded as forming part o f our avifauna; but its visits must be
considered purely accidental.
138. A n th u s o b s c u r u s ............................................................................................. ........... Vol. III. PI. X.
R ock- P i p it .
A stationary species, frequenting the shores and rocky parts of Britain—sparsely in Norfolk, but
plentifully in Western Scotland and all the western islands, including the Outer Hebrides, Monach Isles,
Haskar Rocks, and St. Kilda—keeping strictly to the sea-margin (R . Gray).
139. A n th u s s p in o l e t t a . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. III. PI. XI.
V in o u s P i p i t .
A bird o f France and the southern and eastern parts o f Europe. Although it has been killed on our
coast many times, it must be considered an uncertain and accidental visitor.
140. A n t h u s L u d o v ic ia n u s.
See the remarks respecting this species in my account o f the Vinous Pipit (Anthus spinoletta) .
141. A n t h u s c e rv in u s . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. III. PI. XII.
R e d -t h r o a t ed P i p i t ,
Mr. Harting has recorded, in the ‘ Field ’ for the 26th of August, 1871, the occurrence o f two examples
o f this bird in onr islands—one at Unst in Shetland on the 4th o f May 1854 (now in the collection of
Mr. Bond), and another in September of the same year a t Freshwater in the Isle of Wight.
142. A n t h u s p r a t e n s i s V o '- W j P1- X l1 1 '
M eadow- P i p i t or T it l a r k .
A truely resident species, breeding in all the moorland counties of the three kingdoms, often the fostcr-
parent of the young Cuckoo in this and the other European countries in which it is found. A large race of
Meadow-Pipits arrive on onr south coast in spring, and, it is believed, spread themselves over the central
and perhaps the northern portions o f the country.
143. A n t h u s a r b o i i e u s .................................................................................................................................................Vo*- P1- XIV'
T r e e - P i p i t .
A summer migrant to England and Scotland, but " n o t,” says Thompson, “ satisfactorily known as an
Irish s p e c i e s a r r iv e s in spring, and departs in September.
F am ily A I.A U I)I1 )/E .
The Larks constitute a very large family of birds, and are perhaps less understood than any other group
in the whole range of ornithology. Those species which frequent Britain are arranged in the genera Alania,
Galcrita, Otocoris, Melanoconjpla, and Calandrdla. They are chiefly inhabitants o f the Old World. Of
the genus Alauda, under which term all that were known when Linmeus w rote were included, our well-known
Sky-Lark is a typical example. In America these birds are but feebly represented.
Genus A la ud a .
Vol. III. PI. XV.
144. A la uda a r v e n s i s ........................................................................................................
S ky-L a rk .
A strictly resident species in Britain, the numbers o f which are greatly increased by arrivals from
Scandinavia in autumn, the whole forming immense flocks in the winter season. This species is also widely
d i s p e r s e d over Central and Southern Europe; and its range may even extend further in those directions.
In the preceding portion of this Introduction I have mentioned the great destruction of small birds which
occasionally takes place from the severity o f the weather, in further confirmation of which I may here give
a passage from a note received by me from John St. Anbyn, Esq., of Pendeen, in Cornwall, dated January
15, 1 8 6 7 “ Owing to the severity o f the cold, Larks and other small birds are beginning to die rapidly of
starvation, judging from the number my children pick up.”