THE BHARAT AND ITS KINDRED 133 



banks of the Brahmaputra". '*It abounds 

 on the white sand-dunes, where the stream, 

 unchecked by the tide, deposits only fine 

 sand, and the alluvial country round (from 

 this cause) is everywhere light and are- 

 naceous". 



Though so many species of Larks are 

 the intimate pets of a very large number 



of bird-lovers, very few of these 



Field 1 J. ' ' 



Notes people, except a microscopic 



minority of scientists, can claim 

 to posses first-hand information of the habits 

 of these birds in a wild state, inspite of 

 the fact that they do not inhabit un- 

 approachable and unfrequented depths of 

 forests as, for example, the Shama does. 

 Even the great Eha pleads ignorance about 

 its song and says, *'I should be ashamed 

 if I had not noticed that Jerdon and Barnes 

 and Gates all seem to avoid saying any- 

 thing definite on the subject, from which 

 I infer that they knew no more than T do. 

 The fact is that when the Lark is singing, 

 it is generally out of sight, or too high 



