34 



THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



during the breeding season appears to live in scattered 

 pairs. Very little is known of the nidification of this 

 species. The nest is said to be placed upon the ground 

 amongst herbage, either cultivated or wild, and to be 

 made of grass, the finer kinds being reserved for the 

 lining. Of its actions at the nest nothing has been 

 recorded. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the White-winged Lark are four or five in 

 number, sometimes, it is said, only three. They are 

 grayish or yellowish-white in ground colour, freckled and 

 mottled with brown, and with underlying markings of 

 lilac-gray. As a rule the markings are large and distinct, 

 and generally distributed over the surface of the ^gg, but 

 on some they are more confined to the larger end of the 

 Ggg> where they frequently form a zone. The under- 

 lying markings are also very conspicuous and numerous. 

 Average measurement, '95 inch in length by '65 inch in 

 breadth. Incubation appears to be performed by the 

 female, but the duration of the period is unknown. 



Diagnostic characters: Unfortunately the eggs 

 of the White-winged Lark cannot with certainty be 

 distinguished from those of the Calandra Lark ; their 

 more pyriform shape, larger size, and more scattered 

 markings serve to distinguish them from those of the 

 Sky-Lark. 



