THE BHARAT AND ITS KINDRED 153 



ish, yellowish-white, or stone-cloured ground, 

 very thickly freckled and spotted, and some- 

 times finely streaked with yellowish or pale 

 purplish brown. The young are able to fly 

 in about a fortnight after hatching. Their 

 parents have the habit of trying to draw off 

 intruders from their nest by feigning in- 

 jury and inability to fly by running along 

 the ground with drooping wings. 



Though the majority of the Crested 

 Larks are migratory, a certain number 

 remains to breed in India. Their nests are 

 to be found mostly in the Punjab and United 

 Provinces, specially in the Salt Range and 

 about the Sambhur Lake. They place their 

 nests, like other Larks, in hollows in the 

 soil under the cover of some bush, a tuft of 

 grass or an over-hanging stone. The exterior 

 of the nest differs little from that of other 

 Larks but the interior has a lining of fine 

 grass, cotton, wool, hair or feathers. This 

 lining marks out the nest of the Chendool 

 from that of other Larks, The number of 

 es^gs in a clutch varies from three to five. 



