THE LARKS. 83 



secondary quills white, with a black base ; crown of head rusty- 

 ied; lores and eyebrow creamy white; ear-coverts rusty-red, 

 the fore part white ; under surface of body white, with a tinge 

 of tawny colour on the thighs and sides of the breast, with a 

 few dusky spots on the sides of the throat and fore-neck ; sides 

 of body streaked with dark brown ; axillaries and under wing- 

 coverts white. Total length, 7 inches; culmen, 0*55; wing, 

 47 ; tail, 2-5 ; tarsus, 0*9. 



Adult Female. — Lacks the rufous crown, the head and ear- 

 coverts being ashy brown, streaked with black like the back ; 

 the sides of face and throat more distinctly spotted with 

 black than in the male. Total length, 6'8 inches; wing, 

 4-8. 



Range in Great Britain. — An accidental visitor, one specimen 

 having been caught near Brighton in November, 1869. 



Raage outside the British Islands. — An inhabitant of Central and 

 Southern Russia, as far east as Central Asia, the Altai Moun- 

 tains, and the Irtisch river. In winter it wanders occasionally 

 west to Poland and Galicia, and has been procured in Heligo- 

 land, in Belgium, and in Northern Italy. 



Habits. — In its native haunts it is a bird of the grassy and 

 open districts, is said to be by no means shy, and has a song 

 very like that of the Sky-Lark. Like the latter bird, it also 

 ascends into the air for a short distance and sings during the 

 breeding season. In the autumn these Larks collect in 

 flocks. 



Nest. — Built in a little cavity on the ground under a tuft of 

 herbage or beneath a little bush, and is said to be made of 

 grass. 



Eggs. — Four or five in number. Ground-colour clay-white 

 or greenish-white spotted all over with brown, with underlying 

 spots of grey. Axis, 0*95 inch; diam., 0-65. 



THE SKY-LARKS. GENUS ALAUDA. 



Alauda,) Linn., Syst. Nat., i., p. 287 (1766). 



Type, A. arvensis, Linn. 



The Sky-Larks are familiar birds and favourites in every 



country where they are found, and are in as much request as 



G 2 



