THE LARKS. 



79 



every country of Europe, though its visits rarely extend to 

 those bordering the Mediterranean Sea. 



Habits. — These are described by Mr. Seebohm as resembling 

 those of the Snow-Bunting. It is equally gregarious, and has 

 a somewhat similar song, generally delivered while the bird is 

 soaring in the air like a Lark. The female has nearly as loud 

 a song as the male. 



Nest. — " Almost always placed in some hole in the side of one 

 of the little mounds or tussocks which abound on the marshy 

 part of the tundra; it is composed of dry grass and roots, and 

 profusely lined with feathers." {Seebohm. ) 



Eggs. — Four to six in number. Egg very dark brown in 

 appearance, the ground-colour olive or stone-brown, often 

 uniform, with purplish-brown spots or streaks, and occasionally 

 a few lines. Great variation is shown in the depth of the 

 ground-colour, and in the amount of markings on the egg. 

 Axis, 0*75-0-95 inch ; diam., o*6-o-65. 



Note.— A specimen of Brandt's Siberian Bunting {Emberiza cioides) 

 has been obtained in Yorkshire. Two specimens of the White-throated 

 Bunting {Zonotrichia albicollis) have been recorded, one from the neighbour- 

 hood of Aberdeen, and another from Brighton ; while the Painted Bunt- 

 ing {Cyanospiza ciris) was noted in 1802 as having been captured near Port- 

 land. This individual, as Mr. Howard Saunders well remarks, "Montagu, 

 with his accustomed good sense, naturally presumed to have escaped from 

 confinement. " So many different kinds of foreign Finches are brought alive 

 to England every year that it is devoutly to be hoped that in future the 

 shooting of some of these aliens will not be deemed worthy of record in 

 scientific journals, when it is so obvious that they must have been caged 

 birds. 



THE LARKS. FAMILY ALAUDID^. 



The Larks have been designated by Sundevall as Scutelli- 

 plantares, because the hinder aspect of the tarsus is divided 

 iiito scales like the front aspect. In most Passerine birds the 

 hinder portion of the tarsus is perfectly smooth, and not 

 divided into scales. By these characters a Lark and a Pipit 

 can be easily distinguished, for although our English Tit-larks 

 or Pipits have much of the appearance and habits of a Lark 

 (the Meadow-Pipit even having a Lark-like hind claw), yet they 

 can be immediately told by the undivided scaling of the back 



