152 PET BIRDS OF BENGAL 



Some of the eggs are of greyish or yel- 

 lowish-white ground-colour ; some have a 

 cream colour, while others a pure white 

 ground. ''AH are densely speckled, spotted 

 freckled and even blotched with pale yel- 

 lowish and purplish brown or very pale inky 

 purple." Most eggs are more or less glossy. 



The Bush-Larks build domed nests. 

 Their nesting operations last from March 

 to August. The Bengal species lays from 

 the middle of May to the middle of June, 

 as also does the South Indian bird. As 

 all the Mirqfras have two broods in the 

 year, Gates suspects that it is for the 

 second brood, when rain is apprehended, 

 that the dome is put up with the entrance at 

 the top or sometimes at the side. The nest 

 is composed of fine dry grass and grass-roots 

 with or without lining. It is usually placed 

 in a depression, well-concealed and overhung 

 by tufts of grass. During the rains, it is 

 placed on heaps of Jcankar on roadsides or 

 the permanent way between the railway 

 lines. The eggs of the Mirqfras have grey- 



