LARK 



547 



individual taken in Sussex in 1869, but two others were recorded 

 respectively from that count}' and Kent in 1902. The species is a 

 member of a group of large larks, with stout beaks and more pointed 

 wings, in which the secondaries do not reach the tips of the primaries. 

 The distinctive feature of the present species is the presence of a 

 bright rusty red shoulder-patch, formed by the lesser and primary wing- 

 coverts. There is no evidence that the South European calandra-lark 

 (J/, calandra) has ever been taken in the British Islands. 



Lark ^'^ '^^^ o.'A.'i^ of such a familiar and favourite species 



(Alauda arvensis). ^^ ^'^^ l'^'"'^' ^^ sky-lark, anything in the way of 

 description seems almost superfluous, but the follow- 

 ing brief diagnosis may be advisable. Except for the dull white 

 breast and abdomen, the general colouring is brown, with streaks of 

 darker brown on the upper- 

 parts, and lance-like spots of 

 the latter on the front of the 

 neck; the first primary quill is 

 minute, and the claw of the 

 hind-toe very long. Hens are 

 slightly smaller than their 

 mates. Considerable variation 

 in size and colouring is, how- 

 ever, noticeable ; resident 

 British birds being smaller and 

 paler than the arrivals from 

 abroad in autumn. Indeed, it 

 has been proposed to distin- 

 guish the Scottish lark as a 

 separate race, with the name lark. 



A. arvensis scot tea. Young 



larks may be recognised by the mottled appearance of the upper-parts, 

 due to dark brown spotting on a sandy buff ground, and white horse- 

 shoe-shaped markings formed by the pale edges of the feathers. 



Breeding as far north as, or even a little within, the Arctic Circle, 

 the sky-lark is spread all over Europe, although represented in the 

 south by a paler form, which, however, like other light-coloured phases 

 met with in Asia from the Himalaya to China and Japan, is best 

 regarded merely as a local race. With regard to habits, it will suffice 

 to state that although the lark is a resident British species, yet a great 

 number migrate into the southern districts in winter, where they are 



