Close allies of the Larks, the WAGTAILS and PIPITS come next under consideration. The former range over the Old World, but are unknown in Australia and Polynesia. The pipits have a similar range, but one species is found in, and is peculiar to, Australia. Like wagtails, pipits are unknown in Polynesia; only two species occur in America.
The WAGTAILS are generally black and white, grey and white, grey with yellow breasts, or yellowish green with yellow breasts. In the last-mentioned case, as in some specimens of the YELLOW WAGTAIL, the yellow predominates. These birds frequent streams and stagnant waters, like the RED and GREY WAGTAILS; or corn-fields and meadows, as in the case of the YELLOW WAGTAIL. All these are commonly met with in the British Islands.
[Illustration: _Photo by C. Reid_] [_Wishaw, N.B._
The numbers of skylarks seem to increase with the spread of agricultural improvement.]
The PIPITS are duller-coloured than the Wagtails, have shorter tails, and evince less fondness for the water. The MEADOW-, ROCK-, and TREE-PIPITS are the commonest British species.
Neither Wagtails nor Pipits are much given to perching, but the TREE-CREEPERS spend their lives upon trees, some being specially modified for this mode of life, their tail-feathers being stiff and terminating in sharp points. By pressing its tail closely against the tree-trunk up which it is climbing, the bird obtains a wonderfully reliable support. Beginning at the bottom of a trunk, creepers quickly work their way up in a spiral direction, or sometimes in jerky zigzags, searching every crevice for tiny insects, their eggs and larvæ, and flitting from the higher branches, when these are reached, to the base of another tree.
Creepers are mostly dull-coloured, but the WALL-CREEPER has crimson patches on the wings. This bird, which has occurred in Britain, haunts mountain-cliffs. The TREE-CREEPER, a resident in Britain, builds its nest behind pieces of loose bark, or under tiles, or in crevices of trees, walls, or hollow branches. In this nest are laid from six to nine eggs, pure white, spotted with red, or with a creamy ground-colour, with the spots thicker round the large end.
[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Radland & Sons._