CHERSOPHILUS DUPONTI 247 



hiding, and in no case did I ever meet with the species on bare spots ; 

 indeed, I generally had the greatest difficulty in catching sight of the 

 bird, although hearing its soft notes within a few yards of me. How 

 often, after having exactly located a bird, as I thought, have I advanced 

 cautiously to the spot where I expected to find it and been dis- 

 appointed. I remember one day spending some time drawing a rope 

 over a part of a plain where I had heard several of the birds calling 

 in the early morning, hoping by these means to discover a nest of the 

 species, or at any rate to flush one or two of the birds themselves, 

 but the attempt was a complete failure. Probably the surest way to 

 obtain a glimpse of this remarkably shy bird is to wait patiently, 

 and as quietly as possible, in some spot frequented by the species, 

 where the cover is rather thin and patchy, and one may then very 

 likely detect a bird crossing from one patch of herbage to another. 



Although a great runner and perhaps more often to be seen on the 

 ground than on the wing, I have sometimes known the species, when 

 disturbed, take to flight at once, and on one occasion, when on the 

 march, I put up the same bird no less than three times. When first 

 flushed, the bird in question got up just in front of my horse, but after 

 that it seemed much wilder, and it was only eventually secured by a 

 long shot. 



The flight of this species is, as a rule, rather low, and not prolonged 

 for any great distance, and on alighting, the bird at once runs off and 

 attempts to conceal itself in the thickest cover there may be near at 

 hand. During the breeding season, however, this Lark soars to a 

 great height, and may often be heard in the early morning singing 

 high up in the air. 



Its call-notes, uttered by the bird when on the ground, are exceed- 

 ingly soft and melodious, and so far as it is possible to transcribe 

 them on to paper, may be rendered by a prolonged " twee" followed 

 by a soft " tee-tvit-ivar," the last note in a lower key. No doubt the 

 notes vary somewhat according to the season, but those mentioned, 

 which are uttered in the spring, differ so greatly from the notes of 

 any other bird, that once heard they cannot be mistaken. 



C. duponti does not seem to be at all a sociable bird and, as a rule, 

 is to be found singly or, when mated, in pairs. Strange to say, the 

 green plains so much frequented by this species do not appear to be 

 held in equal favour by other birds, an occasional pair of Crested 

 Larks being the only other species likely to be encountered in such 



