MIRAFRA. 229 



of Mirafra, though some specimens are more streaky and less 

 speckly in their markings, reminding one of some types of our 

 Common Sparrow's eggs. The ground-colour is greyish-, greenish-, 

 or yellowish-white, and some eggs are thickly speckled, spotted, 

 and streaked, and others are uniformly and very densely freckled 

 with different shades of yellowish and sepia-brown, with here and 

 there in the spotted types tiny, very pale inky-purple clouds 

 underlying the brown markings. In shape and size they seem to 

 vary more than those of the other species. The shape is normally, 

 I think, a rather long oval, moderately pointed towards the small 

 end, but short, pyriform, and regular broad oval forms seem not 

 uncommon. They have a faint gloss. 



They vary in length from 0-72 to 0-9, and in breadth from 0-oS 

 to 0-65. 



Mirafra assamica, McClell. The Benrjal Bush-Larh. 



Mirafra assamica, McClell., Jerd. B. hid. ii, p. 416 : Hmne, liounh 

 Draft N. Sf E. no. 754. 



Dr. Jerdon tells us that "the Bengal Bush-Lark is found 

 throughout all Northern India to the Nerbudda, extending east- 

 wards into Assam." This appears to me to convey a somewhat 

 erroneous conception of the bird's habitat ; it is found nowhere in 

 Northern India, except in the comparatively humid districts that 

 fringe the skirts of the Himalayas east of the Jumna. From the 

 greater portions of Oudh and the North-west and the Central 

 Provinces, from the whole of the Punjab and Eajpootana, it is, 

 according to my experience, entirely wanting. Throughout Lower 

 and Eastern Bengal, in the better-watered and wooded tracts of 

 the Central Provinces and Chota Nagpore, in Assam and Cachar, 

 and in the Dhoons, Terais, and Bhaburs that lie at the feet of the 

 Himalayas, and the immediately adjacent districts of Behar, Oudh, 

 and the North-western Provinces, it is a permanent resident. 



It lays from the middle of May to the middle of June, con- 

 structing on the ground, generally in some hollow, concealed and 

 overhung by tufts of grass, a loose and usually partially domed 

 circular nest, composed of fine dry grass and grass-roots. Some- 

 times the nest is a mere pad of grass, perhaps 4 inches in diameter 

 and an inch in thickness, with a slight central depression. More 

 commonly it is wholly or entirely domed over, sometimes with the 

 entrance at the top, and sometimes at the side, never very compact 

 in structure, often so loose that you can see the eggs through the 

 stragghng roof. I once found a nest entirely under a large clod 

 of earth, which completely overhung and concealed it; in this case 

 the almost invariable grass-tuft was absent. The largest and most 

 perfect nest I ever saw was rather more than a hemisphere, the 

 curved surface uppermost, 7 inches in diameter and 5 inches high, 

 and with a neatly made circular aperture 2 inches in diameter 

 nearly at the top. More roots had been used in this than is cus- 

 tomary, and these had been specially used internally, at the bottom, 



