9© THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



butl. The rump is not streaked, and the flanks are warmly 

 tinged with buff. Length, 7 ins. Wing, 4*2 ins. Tarsus, i in. 



Short-toed Lark. Calandreila brachydactyla (Leisler). 



The Short-toed Lark is a migratory southern European bird 

 which winters in Africa and India, but has wandered north 

 occasionally. At least a dozen have reached the British Isles, 

 mostly but not always in autumn. The majority of these 

 vagrants are recorded from the south of England, but a few 

 from the Shetlands and Orkneys, and one of these is referable 

 to the Eastern form, C. b. lotigipennis (Eversmann), which 

 inhabits Turkestan, Tibet and other parts of Asia, and has 

 been recognised as a winter visitor in Algeria. It seems likely 

 that most of the southern birds are wanderers from Spain or 

 the south of France, and the northern of the Siberian race. 



This squat little Lark can hardly be confused with any 

 British species. The hind claw is short and straight, the 

 yellowish bill short and conical. The colour of the upper parts 

 is buff or sandy brown with darker streaks ; the under huffish 

 white, palest on the throat and almost spotless. There is a cha- 

 racteristic dark patch on each side of the upper breast. The 

 eye-stripe is white ; the legs brown. Length, 5-5 ins. Wing, 

 3"6 ins. Tarsus 75 in. 



White-winged Lark. Melanocorypha sibirica (Gmelin). 



This southern Russian and Siberian ground lark has occa- 

 sionally wandered westward, and about a dozen examples have 

 been recorded from Kent and Sussex. One seen in November, 

 191 5, was not shot, but there is no doubt about its authenticity. 

 The chestnut "crown, lesser coverts and tail, the white wing-bar 

 and under wiug-coverts, and tawny back and buff-tinged throat 

 and breast, commanded the attention of the recorder, Miss 



