ALAUDULA. 225 



ground, aud is speckled and freckled excessively finely all over 

 with tiny specks and spots of dull, pale, purplish grey and very 

 pale brownish yellow ; in the other type the ground is nearly pure 

 white, and the markings, though similar in colour to those of the 

 other type, are darker in shade, larger, and much less densely set. 



Eggs of these types present very different appearances according 

 as the markings are coarser and finer, and as the purplish-grey 

 or brownish-yellow predominates. One specimen, which appears 

 abnormally coloured, has a dull white ground, speckled and clouded, 

 almost exclusively towards the large end, with pale slaty grey. 

 Most of the eggs are more or less glossy ; some have a very fair 

 amount of gloss. 



In length the eggs vary from 0*74 to 0-88, and in breadth from 

 0-56 to 0-6G ; but the average is 0-8 by 0-61. 



Alaudula raytal (Buch. Ham.). Tlie Gamjes Sand-Lark. 



Alaudula raytal [Buck. Ham.), Jerd. B. hid. ii, p. 428. 

 Alaudula raytal {Blyth), Hume, Rough Draft N. 8f E. no. 762. 



The Ganges Sand-Lark breeds along the sandy dunes that fringe 

 this great river and its innumerable affluents, and in similar situa- 

 tions along the Brahmapootra, the Irrawaddy, aud the Xerbudda. 

 In the upper portions of the courses of these rivers, to judge from 

 those we know, it is not foinid, and again when they approach the 

 sea it, I believe, disappears. A broad and tranquil stream, with 

 wide bare banks of sand, is what it loves, and there amid a few 

 stunted straggling shoots of tamarisk it breeds and may be seen at 

 all seasons. 



It lays, so far as my limited experience goes, in March, April, 

 and May, making a tiny circular nest in some little hollow, under 

 a tuft of grass or tamarisk, or beside and partly under a stranded 

 log, the fragments of some old boat, or a large stone. 



The nests are very small, some 3 inches in diameter, pads with 

 slight central depressions or shallow saucer-like affairs, composed 

 of fine grass or dry tamarisk leaflets. 



Two, I believe, is the normal number of eggs, but one nest that 

 was sent me contained three. 



As regards its nesting on the Nerbudda, which could hardl,y 

 have been looked for, I may note that Mr. Nunn took two nests, 

 both apparently belonging to this bird, early in May at Hoshun- 

 gabad. Of one he sent the parent bird, and there can therefore 

 be no doubt as to the one nest, though further observations are 

 necessary, as no one else has recorded the bird from the Nerbudda. 

 Both nests were tiny saucer-like fabrics, composed of fine grass and 

 only about 2-5 in diameter. The one taken on the 1st May was 

 placed at the foot of a tuft of coarse grass on the level ground just 

 above a nullah. The other, taken on the 6th May, was alongside a 

 large stone in the dry sand of the bed of the Nerbudda. Each 

 nest contained a single fresh egg. 



Mr. J. E. Cripps, \Miting from Eurreedpore, in Eastern Bengal, 



VOL. II. 15 



