32 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



thence through Asia Minor into Persia and Turkestan to 

 the western slopes of the Great Altai. 



Breeding habits : In many of its habits the Calandra 

 Lark closely resembles the Sky-Lark, but it is more 

 fastidious in its choice of a haunt. It loves warm sandy 

 soils, and is especially fond of steppe country in districts 

 where cereals are largely grown. I remarked its pre- 

 ference for such country especially in Algeria. During 

 the breeding season the males are for ever fluttering into 

 the air and dropping down again into the cover, some- 

 times singing, sometimes merely uttering their liquid 

 call-note. This Lark is gregarious enough in winter, 

 but during the nesting season lives in scattered pairs, 

 which in some localities are often very thick on the 

 ground. Of its pairing habits nothing definite appears 

 to be known. I am inclined to think that it pairs 

 annually, and at this season the males may be seen 

 chasing each other and toying with the females. The nest 

 is always made upon the ground in a slight hollow of 

 some kind, and well concealed amongst growing corn or 

 other herbage. It is a loosely made structure, composed 

 externally of coarse dry grass, roots, and stalks of plants, 

 and lined with finer grass and roots. It is a very close 

 sitter, and when flushed from the nest flies right away at 

 once with no demonstration of anxiety. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The ea:G:s of the Calandra Lark are four or five in 

 number. They vary in ground colour from grayish-white 

 to white with a very perceptible yellowish tinge, thickly 

 mottled and freckled with olive-brown, and with under- 

 lying markings similar in character of violet-gray. The 

 markings are fairly well defined and close together, but a 

 considerable amount of ground colour is visible. As a 

 rule the spots are most numerous on the larger end of 

 the egg, and sometimes form a cap or irregular zone. 



