SHORT-TOED LARK. 277 
The nest appears always to be built upon the ground, sometimes under a 
clod of dry dung or earth, or frequently on the lee-side of a bush amongst 
the herbage. It is usually made in a little cavity in the ground, either 
scratched out by the bird itself, or the mark of a stone or footprint. It is 
a simple little structure made of dry grass, rootlets, &c., very closely 
resembling the nest of the Sky-Lark. One which I obtained on the sandy 
steppes near Kustendji is made of short bits of grass, a feather or two, and 
a large amount of vegetable down, lined with a few hairs. 
The eggs of the Short-toed Lark are four or five in number, sometimes 
only three, creamy white in ground-colour, profusely mottled and speckled 
with pale neutral brown, and with underlying markings of grey. Some 
eggs are much more richly coloured than others. On some the ground- 
colour is almost hidden by the profusion of spots; whilst on others the 
_ markings are fewer, although evenly distributed over the entire surface, 
but occasionally they form a zone round the end. They vary from ‘87 to °69 
inch in length, and from *62 to 55 inch in breadth. The eggs are ‘much 
smaller than those of the Sky-Lark, but otherwise bear considerable 
resemblance to them, except that the general tone of colour is much 
yellower. . 
In winter the Short-toed Lark congregates into flocks. Jerdon writes 
that in India it appears “in October and November in flocks, frequenting 
the bare grass downs, frequently damp spots near tanks, also grain-fields 
and ploughed land ; and it almost always retires to corn-fields or grass for 
shelter during the heat of the day, whence it does not in general issue 
again till next morning, for they are seldom seen flying about or feeding in 
the afternoon or evening. It feeds almost entirely on seeds; both runs 
and hops on the ground, and _ has a call-note like that of the real Larks, 
Towards the end of March in the south, April in the north of India, 
different flocks often unite into vast troops containing many thousand 
birds, and quite darkening the air, so close do they keep together, even 
when flying. Great numbers are netted in some parts of the country, or 
taken by bird-lime, or shot ; for when feeding they keep close to each other. 
On one occasion, on the cavalry parade-ground at Kamptee, I bagged 
twelve dozen birds after discharging both barrels, and many wounded 
birds escaped. They get quite fat about this time, and are really very 
excellent eating, and they are always called Ortolan by Europeans in India. 
They leave the north of India about the end of April or beginning of 
May.” In Algeria Canon Tristram states that it congregates in flocks for 
the winter, and frequents the neighbourhood of the oases on the northern 
borders of the desert. 
The adult male Short-toed Lark in breeding-plumage has the general 
colour of the upper parts pale sandy brown, the dark centres being very 
