74 



BIRDS OF MIDDLESEX. 



Sky Laek. 



Tarsus, stout, 1 iucli, dark 

 brown ; toes 1 inch, dark 

 brown ; claws black ; hind 

 claw long, but variable. 



Wood Lark. 



Tarsus, slender, 10 lines, 

 light brown ; toes, 10 lines 

 light brown ; hind claw 

 somewhat shorter. 



Shore Lark, Alaucla alpestr'is. A rare visitant 

 to this country, being an inhabitant of the northern 

 parts of Europe, Asia, and America. Has once 

 occurred in this county, an example having been 

 taken alive by a birdcatcher on Hackney Marshes in 

 March, 1865. It was kept alive for some months, 

 and became tolerably tame, feeding well in confine- 

 ment. Its call-note was said to resemble that of the 

 Sky Lark, although a correspondent in ' The Ibis ' 

 (January, 1862), alluding to three live specimens of 

 this bird which had been taken at Brighton, says : 

 " The cry is like that of a Snow Bunting, or that of 

 the chick of the domestic fowl." Some interesting 

 particulars relating to the habits of the Shore Lark 

 in the breeding season, gleaned from the works of 

 Audubon and Sir John Kichardson, will be found in 

 Yarrell's 'British Birds,' vol. i., pp. 467, 470. 



Family Emberizid^. 



Lapland Bunting, Emheriza Laponica. In Sep- 

 tember, 1828, an immature male of this species was 

 caught in Copenhagen Fields ; and two years later, 



