Our Summer Migrants / An Account of the Migratory Birds Which Pass the Summer in the British Islands.

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.

Clyx.com