THE LARKS. . 109 
nature, two of the innermost feathers of the wings were 
white, forming a V-shaped mark on the bird’s back 
when the wings were closed. 
The last winter I was in India (1902) I did not see 
it, but there was another bird of the same kind in the old 
haunt; large as the tank is, about sixty yards across in 
the narrowest part, I never saw more than one there. 
Many of this species breed at elevations of over six 
thousand feet in the Himalayas; I have seen it at 
Kurseong in spring in full wedding-dress. It breeds 
in May or June, building its nest under a stone or 
in a bush, of fibres and moss. There are generally five 
eggs, of a dirty white speckled with yellowish-brown. 
In confinement this bird has bred with the English Pied 
Wagtail, and the hybrids even proved capable of breeding 
again. 
THE LARKS. 
Larks are rather small birds of dull drab or sandy 
plumage, usually with darker streaks ; their bills vary in 
shape in a manner unusual among species of the same 
family, some being short and thick, and others long and 
thin ; nevertheless there is something about a Lark which 
makes it easily recognizable. Their wings are large 
and their tails rather short ; the hinder toe usually bears 
a long straight claw, and the back of the shank is covered 
with small separate scales like the front. This last point 
will distinguish the Larks from the Pipits, which also 
have a brown streaky plumage and a long hind claw, 
and are often called Titlarks; but they have the back 
