It
is evidently akin to several of our Eastern species.
A correspondent, writing to me from the country one September, said:
"I have observed recently a new species of bird here. They alight upon
the buildings and fences as well as upon the ground. They are
walkers." In a few days he obtained one and sent me the skin. It
proved to be what I had anticipated, namely the American pipit, or
titlark, a slender brown bird, about the size of the sparrow, which
passes through the States in the fall and spring, to and from its
breeding haunts in the far north. They generally appear by twos and
threes, or in small loose flocks, searching for food on banks and
plowed ground. As they fly up, they show two or three white quills in
the tail, like the vesper sparrow. Flying over, they utter a single
chirp or cry every few rods. They breed in the bleak, moss-covered
rocks of Labrador. It is reported that their eggs have also been found
in Vermont, and I feel quite certain that I saw this bird in the
Adirondack Mountains in the month of August. The male launches into
the air, and gives forth a brief but melodious song, after the manner
of all larks.
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