THE LARKS. 109 



The last winter I was in India (1902) I did not see it, 

 but there was another bird of the same kind in the old 

 haunt ; large as the tank is, about sixty yards across 

 in the narrowest part, I never saw more than one 

 there. 



Many of this species breed at elevations of over six 

 thousand feet in the Himalayas ; I have seen it at Kurseong 

 in spring in full wedding-dress. It breeds in May or June, 

 building its nest under a stone or in a bush, of fibres and 

 moss. There are generally five eggs, of a dirty white 

 speckled with yellowish-brown. 



In confinement this bird has bred with the English Pied 

 Wagtail, and the hybrids even proved capable of breeding 

 again. 



THE LARKS. 



Larks are rather small birds of dull drab or sandy 

 plumage, usually with darker streaks ; their bills vary in 

 shape in a manner unusual among species of the same 

 family, some being short and thick, and others long and 

 thin ; nevertheless there is something about a Lark which 

 makes it easily recognizable. Their wings are large, 

 and their tails rather short ; the hinder toe usually bears 

 a long straight claw, and the back of the shank is covered 

 with small separate scales like the front. This last point 

 will distinguish the Larks from the Pipits, which also 

 have a brown streaky plumage and a long hind claw, 

 and are often called Titlarks ; but they have the back 

 of the shank covered by two long undivided plates, like 

 most Passerine birds. 



