LARKS. 



83 



Ibe regarded as a British bird has been satisfactorily 

 established. 



All that I have been able to discover respecting the 

 wild life of this Lark is that it wanders about in large 

 flocks, and feeds upon seeds and insects ; it is said to be 

 excellent as an article of food, but my library of works 

 on European birds is very incomplete. According to 

 the " Royal Natural History " the bird lays four 

 bluish eggs spotted with yellow. 



In " The Avicultural Magazine," First Series, Vol. 

 v., pp. 169-176, Mr. Reginald Phillipps gives an in- 

 teresting account of the breeding of the Black Lark 

 in 1898 in his aviary. The hen made a hollow in the 

 ground under the stem of a Virginian creeper, and 

 lined it with short, soiled hay. She laid si.\ eggs of a 

 pale grey-white colour, blotched all over with pale or 

 grey-brown, the spots, as usual, more confluent at jhe 

 larger end ; some eggs with darker and more decidedly 

 brown spots than others ; four young were hatched, 

 but the mother built again about the time when they 

 left the first nest, and neglected them, so that even- 

 tually only one was reared. I would recommend any- 

 one especially interested in this group of birds to get 

 .Mr. Phillipps' article, and read it through carefully ; 

 it is the more interesting because Dr. Russ says that 

 not much has been published respecting the behaviour 

 ■of the species in captivity. " In the Berlin Aquarium 

 all the specimens soon died, but on the other hand a 

 beautiful pair exists in the Zoological Gardens, and has 

 given proof that it is long-lived in captivity. I 

 have not been able to discover a song, but Meusel, the 

 keeper, told me that it was loud and ringing, similar 

 to that of the Crested Lark, but sounded still more 

 pleasing." 



The London Zoological Gardens acquired four ex- 

 amples in 1876, and two in 1883 ; possibly they may 

 have had others. 



Indux Skyl.\rk [Alauda ijulgiila). 



Very like the greyish form of the European Skylark, 

 but much smaller, the under wing-coverts paler and thi- 

 Jlank .stripes almost entirely wanting ; bill with upper 

 mandible brown, lower mandible fleshy-yellow ; feet 

 Ueshy-yellow ; irides brown. Female smaller, with 

 shorter wing ; upper mandible brownish, lower mandible 

 He.shy : feet fleshy-yellow, with dusky claws ; irides 

 dark brown. Hab., India, Ceylon, Burma, South 

 China, Formosa, Hainan, and the Philippines. 



Dr. Sharpe includes the Sweet-voiced Lark {A. 

 rcelivox) as inseparable from A. gulgula, of which he 

 says, " it is only a pale race." 



Jerdon observes (" Birds of India," Vol. II., p. 435) 

 that " The Indian Skylark is found throughout the 

 whole of India, frequenting grassy hills, meadows, and 

 fields : the grassy edges of tanks are favourite spots, 

 and also the bunds of rice fields, in which they (sic) 

 •often breed. It rises into the air singing, but does not 

 perh;)ps soar so high as the Laverock of England. It 

 breeds from March to June, making its nest of gra-s-s 

 and hair, on the ground under a tuft of grass ; and 

 laying three or four greenish-grey eggs, with numerous 

 brown and dusky streaks and spots. In the cold 

 weather they associate more or less in flocks, and are 

 taken in great numbers for the taJble." " The song," 

 .■;avs Mr. Blvth, "very closely resembles that of the 

 British Skylark." 



■ An example of this species was acquired hv the 

 LT)ndon Zoological Society in 1872, and in 1892 the 

 Chinese race A. gnlgula var. calivox was added to the 

 collection at the Gardens. The species appears, how- 

 ever, not to have been received in the German bird- 

 market. 



Shoet-toed L.4IUC (C'alandrella brachijdacli/la). 

 So many examples of this species have strayed to our 

 shores that it is now generally recognised as a British 

 bird, and consequently I would simply refer any of my 

 readers who may acquire it to any of the excellent 

 works on the birds of our islands which have appeared 

 of late years. 



B.iR-TAiLED L.\RK (Miruf'ra apiafa]. 



Above deep brown, indistinctly barred with rufous 

 and black ; wing-coverts .similar, but tipped with 

 rufous ; flights mostly brown, with rufous edges, but 

 the inner secondaries with black shafts and bars ; tail 

 brown, outer feather with fawn-coloured edges; eye- 

 brow-stripe pale fawn ; ear-coverts rufous ; under sur- 

 face bright fawn, the throat and chest speckle-' with 

 black ; bill horn-colour ; feet pink ; irides hazel. Female 

 similar, but smaller. Hab., Cape Colony. 



In Stark and Sclater's " Birds of South Africa," 

 Vol. I., p. 218, we read : "Like all the Mirafroe, tliis 

 species frequents not only the open country, but alec 

 gi'ound studded with clumps of bushes, on wtlioh it 

 readily perches if disturbed ; sometimes, however, it 

 runs along the ground for a long distance in front of an 

 inti-uder, crouching at intervals imtil closely approached, 

 then running on as before. Like other Larks, it feeds 

 on small seeds and insects." 



Layard writes that this species " is well known from 

 it.'; singular habit of rising 15ft. or 30ft. into the air, 

 perpendicularly, making a sharp, cracking somid with 

 its wings as it rises, uttering a long -shrill 'phew,' and 

 then falling as abruptly to the earth. This action it 

 will repeat at intervals of a minute or two, for an hour 

 or moire, chiefly during dull mornings, but in bright 

 weather it commences before and after sunset. It de- 

 lights in warm sandv soils, but we meet with it on the 

 high tableland of the Cold Bokkeveld in considerable 

 abundance." 



Shelley says ("Birds of Aft-ica." Vol. III., p. 42): 

 "The egg, according to Mr. A. Nehrkorn, is greyi-sh- 

 vellow witJi spots of violet or rufous-brown evenly dis- 

 tributed over the surface, and measures 0.88in. x 

 0.6in." 



Russ says : " Some years ago I saw five head in the 

 Zoological Gai'dens of Hamburg, -which the director at 

 that time, Dr. Hilgendorf, said had been im]K)i-ted by 

 Miss Hagenbeck." 



M.iDRAs Bush-Lark [Mirafra afflnis). 



Alx)ve dark brown, -with pale rufescent margins to the 

 feathers ; lower back an-d rump more uniformly brown ; 

 primaries and their coverts dark broxm with rufescent 

 edges, this colour not -extending to the baee of the 

 quills; secondaries dark brown, rufescent on outer webs, 

 the inner webs rufescent at base ; tail with the four 

 central feathers pale brown, the remainder much darker, 

 the two outermost with yellowish-white on outer webs; 

 a buff-whitish eyebrow-stripe; ear-coverts pale rufous 

 -n-ith dusky tips ; under-surface white, slightly washed 

 •with huffish ; breast marked with large oval brown 

 ^^pots ; bill -ndth the upper mandible dark brovm -with 

 fleshy edge., lower mandible fleshy -with dusky tip ; feet 

 flesihy, brownisli on edge of scales; e.yeHd brownish- 

 fleshy ; ii-ides reddish to yello«ash brown. Female simi- 

 lar, but smaller, and with .shorter wing. Hab., Ceylon 

 and South India up to Maunbhoom. 



Jerdon says (" Birds of India," Vol. II., p. 418) : "It 

 is a tolerably familiar bird, entering gardei-us. and com- 

 ing close to "houses, and does not care so much as some 

 others of the genus to conceal itself from observation. 



