ALPINE PIPIT.
ANTHUS SPIPOLETTA (Linn.).
Alauda spinoletta, Linn. S. N. i. p. 288 (1766).
Anthus aquaticus, Naum. iii. p. 789, xiii. pp. 104, 110.
Anthus spipoletta, Yarr. ed. 4, i. p. 581.
Anthus spinoletta, Dresser, iii. p. 335.
Pipi spioncelle, Fctrlouse spioncelle, Pipi spipolette, French,
Alpen-Pieper, German; Tordino, Al/arfero, Spanish.
I have adopted the above designation for this species
in preference to that of Water-Pipit, for the simple
reason that all the European species of the genus
Anthus frequent the sea-shores and alluvial flats in
autumn and winter, and are, with very few exceptions,
at all seasons fond of the neighbourhood of water,
whilst the present bird, during the breeding-season, is
seldom, if ever, to be met with, except amongst mountains
of a considerable elevation. Four instances only
of the occurrence of this bird in England have hitherto
been recorded, all in the county of Sussex, but it is
more than probable that other such occurrences have
passed unnoticed. My personal acquaintance with the
Alpine Pipit is confined to having seen a few in various