258 WHITE-WINGED LARK. 



The nest, generally built early in May, is placed on the ground, 

 sheltered under a tussock of grass, and the 3-5 eggs are yellowish- 

 white, spotted and mottled with several shades of brown and violet- 

 grey : measurements '95 by "65 in. In Russia the bird does not 

 arrive until after the grass is green, and, according to Eversmann, 

 prefers those portions of the steppes which are most clothed with 

 herbage ; while Pallas, who was the first to observe this species on 

 the banks of the Irtish, describes it as frequenting the road-sides 

 and uttering its song — similar to that of the Skylark but shorter — 

 when hovering at a moderate height from the ground. During the 

 cold season it is found in large flocks and is very tame. The food 

 is probably similar to that of other Larks. 



The adult male has the top of the head and ear-coverts pale 

 chestnut ; lores and eye-stripe dull white ; back tawny-brown, with 

 dark stripes down the centre of each feather ; upper wing-coverts 

 chestnut, the rest rufous-brown ; outer quills dull brown, the inner 

 primaries and the secondaries chiefly white (exhibiting a large and 

 conspicuous bar or patch) ; tail-coverts and central tail-feathers 

 broadly edged with chestnut, the outer pair of tail-feathers white 

 and the rest chiefly dark brown ; under parts white, with brown and 

 rufous spots on the throat, gorget and flanks ; under wing-coverts 

 white ; bill horn-colour ; legs yellowish-brown. Length 7 in. ; 

 wing 4-6 in. The female is smaller (wing 4-2 in.), with hardly a 

 tinge of rufous on her brown streaked crown, and little on the 

 wings, tail or breast. After the autumn moult the plumage is 

 tinged with buff. The young resemble the female. The chestnut 

 tint, white wing-patch, and white under-wing-coverts are sufficiently 

 distinctive of this species. 



The White-winged, the Calandra, and other stout-billed Larks 

 have been placed in several genera, the favourite one being Melano- 

 corypha ; but that name is, at best, misleading, for the Calandra, 

 which is the type, has not a black crown, nor would it be easy to 

 define the characters which distinguish that genus from Cala7tdrella. 



Two examples of the Calandra Lark, Alauda calandra, said to 

 have been killed in England, have been recognized in the shops of 

 bird-stuffers at Devonport and Exeter respectively ; but the evidence 

 is not sufficient to warrant the introduction to the British list of 

 a species which is very tolerant of confinement and one of the 

 commonest cage-birds in Spain and Italy. 



