TITLARKS: FAMILY MOTACILLIDÆ
AMERICAN PIPIT; TITLARK. Anthus pensilvanicus [Anthus rubescens].
6.38 in.
Ad.— Upper parts brownish-gray; end of outer tail-feathers white; next pair tipped with white; line over eye whitish or buffy; throat white; breast streaked with black; belly white.
The Titlark is a migrant through New England and New York, rare in New England in spring, but common in the fall, especially near the coast. It passes north in April and May, and returns in late September, October, and early November. Near the coast it frequents the short grass of the tidal marshes or grassy hills, where it feeds in company with Shore Larks and Snow Buntings. It often occurs in large flocks, which rise when disturbed and fly off over the marsh with a shrill tsee-tseep tsee-tsee-tseep, very like the call notes of the Shore Lark. Inland it is fond of ploughed fields, mud-flats, or low meadows, but is also found on grassy hilltops, even at great elevation. Its long tail is constantly wagged as it walks; this wagging should identify it at once, as the birds with which it consorts do not have this trick, and the other birds that do, the waterthrushes, etc., are not found in open fields. When the Titlark flies, it shows two outer tail-feathers tipped with white.