30 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



reaching them the moment sufficient snow has melted to 

 allow of its obtaining food. Owing to its partiality for 

 sandy ground, bare rocky hills, and the sloping banks of 

 clay that confine the Arctic rivers in many places, the 

 Shore-Lark is certainly a local bird. It is especially 

 fond of such portions of the tundras and barren grounds 

 as are sandy and clothed with scrub, eschewing the more 

 marshy portions of these Arctic moors. It migrates 

 north in spring in flocks of varying size, but these 

 disband after pairing, and during the breeding season it 

 lives in scattered pairs. The male is a most persistent 

 singer, warbling whilst soaring after the manner of a 

 Sky-Lark, or when sitting on some building, but this 

 species rarely if ever perches in trees. The nest of the 

 Shore-Lark is invariably made upon the ground, and, as 

 is the case with other Larks, usually in a hollow of some 

 kind. Very bare and exposed situations are sometimes 

 selected, as for instance amongst loose stones, or even on 

 a frequented path, but more usually the shelter of a tuft 

 of herbage is sought. The nest, which is cup-shaped, is 

 made externally of dry grass, bits of moss, and the stalks 

 of plants, and lined with vegetable down of some kind, 

 or reindeer hair if it can be obtained. It is said that 

 feathers are also sometimes used. It is somewhat care- 

 lessly put together like the nests of most of the Larks. 

 The female is a close sitter, remaining until almost 

 trodden upon ere she rises. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Shore-Lark are from three to five in 

 number, four being the average clutch. They vary in 

 ground colour from greenish-white to brownish-white, 

 indistinctly mottled, freckled, and spotted with olive- 

 brown, and with underlying markings of paler brown and 

 gray. Occasionally a few hair-like very dark brown 

 streaks and spots at the large end, more rarely over the 



