169.254.0.0/16 is a much less well-known
CIDR block that contains
nonroutable IP addresses. This address block is best known to
Windows users, as Windows picks a random address from the CIDR block whenever it fails to get a response to a
DHCP request (the Obtain an
IP address automatically box in the
Networking Control Panel). This is known as
Automatic Private IP Adressing.
DHCP Client Lease has instruction for re-asking for an IP address if this happens to you.
For those interested in these things: ARIN lists 169.254.0.0/16 as LINKLOCAL.