2o6 JUNGLE FOLK 



vipon I do not know. The books do not tell us, and I 

 have never had the heart to shoot one of these small 

 birds in order to find out. But whatever their food 

 consists of, the search for it leaves finch-larks plenty 

 of leisure, much of which they spend after the manner 

 of the skylark clan. Suddenly one of these birds will 

 jump into the air, and rise almost perpendicularly by 

 vigorous flappings of its powerful little wings. Having 

 reached an altitude of from twenty to forty feet, its 

 habit is to close its pinions and drop, head foremost, 

 like a stone. Just before it reaches the ground, it 

 checks its flight and again soars upwards. Often while 

 disporting themselves in the air these birds display 

 strange antics, twisting and turning about much as the 

 common fly does. After amusing themselves for some 

 time in this manner, the pair will take to their wings 

 in real earnest, and fly off to a spot a quarter of a mile 

 or more away, and there drop to the ground and begin 

 feeding. 



Finch-larks, like skylarks, nest on the ground. 

 According to Hume, they have two broods, one in 

 February or March, and the other in July or August. 

 The nest, which consists of a small pad of dried grass 

 and fibres, is usually placed in some depression on the 

 ground ; a hoof-print is considered an especially suit- 

 able site. As the bird sits very close, the nest is not 

 easy to find. But when flushed the hen generally 

 flies straight off the nest without first running along 

 the ground ; thus, if the spot from which the bird gets 

 up be carefully marked, the nest ought to be found 

 without much difficulty. 



