614 



PASSE RES. 



ALAUDID/E. 



ALAUDIDJi. 



Alauda arvensis, Linnseus*. 



THE SKYLAEK. 



Alauda arvensis. 



Alauda, Linna;usf. — Bill rather long, slightly compi'essed at the edges, upper 

 mandible more or less arched from the middle and without notch. Nostrils 

 basal, oval, covered by bristly feathers directed forwards. Gape straight. Head 

 with feathers on the occiput elongated and forming a decided crest. Wings 

 long : first primary short but unmistakably developed ; second, third and fourth 

 nearly equal, but the third longest ; secondaries and tertials comparatively long 

 and emarginate at the tip, the latter about as long as the sixth primary. Tail 

 moderate and slightly forked. Tarsus blunt and scutellated behind as well as 

 before, longer than the middle toe ; claws slightly curved and moderate, except 

 that of the hind toe which is greatly elongated and nearly straight. 



The Skylaek is so abundant, so well known and so uni- 

 versal a favourite, as to requii-e little more than a general 

 reference here to the points of greatest interest in its history. 

 It is an inhabitant of all the countries of Europe, preferring 



Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 287 (1766). 



t Eoc. fit. 



