ALAUDA. LARKS. 157 



The plumage is ordinary, on the lower parts blended ; the 

 general form of the feathers ovato-oblong ; a long slender plu- 

 mule of few barbs. Frontal feathers encroaching on the nasal 

 membrane and partially concealing the nostrils ; those on the 

 upper part of the head rather long ; bristle-feathers at the base 

 of the upper mandible. Wings long, broad, when extended 

 semicordate. Primaries ten, the first minute, the next three 

 longest ; the first five rounded, the rest emarginate ; second- 

 aries eight, the outer 

 emarginate, the inner 

 tapering, the sixth 

 much elongated. The 

 Fig. 136. tail is rathcF long, 



straight, deeply emarginate, of twelve rather narrow feathers, 

 which taper to a rounded point. 



The genus Alauda is closely allied on the one hand to Plec- 

 trophanes and Emberiza, and on the other to Anthus, which 

 passes into Motacilla. In all these genera the wings are nearly 

 of the same form, but in Anthus and Motacilla the first primary 

 is wanting. In the form of the bill, some Larks very closely 

 resemble certain Thrushes. Alauda arvensis, for example, is 

 very similar to Turdus pilaris in this respect. The Larks and 

 Thrushes also resemble each other in their ordinary flight, al- 

 though the former have a song-flutter of a very peculiar charac- 

 ter. To exhibit in some measure the affinities by which the 

 species of birds are connected, we may take the Sky Lark as a 

 centre of affinities. Its bill has a resemblance to that of the Field- 

 fare, also to the bill of the Pipits, which is more slender, and 

 to that of the Lark-Buntings, which is thicker. Its oesophagus 

 has no dilatation, and so is more like that of the Pipits, Wag- 

 tails, and Warblers, than that of the Emberizinfe or Passerinse ; 

 but its gizzard more resembles that of these latter families. Its 

 feet resemble those of the Lark-Buntings, Pipits, and Wag- 

 tails. The upper part of its plumage is extremely like that of 

 the Corn-Bunting ; all parts closely resemble that of the Tree 

 and Common Pipits ; its lower part shew^s an affinity to that of 

 the Thrushes. Its wing resembles that of the Pipits and Wag- 

 tails, as well as of the Lark-Buntings. Its tail is similar to 

 that of the Corn-Bunting. Its ordinary flight is very like that 



