IvARKS. 95 



XV. 



LARKS. 



B\^ Dr. A. G. Butler. 



Our Editor has asked me to contribute an article upon 

 these birds altliough my experience of them is limited to three 

 species: — the Skylark, Woodlark, and Mongolian Lark, other 

 more competent members of our Society not having been willing 

 to help him. He says : — " to have kept one species and studied 

 it is better than to have had fifty and just fed them in a cage." 

 Of course this is true, and, therefore, I am doing what I can 

 towards helping those with even less experience. 



The Larks are related to the Finches and Pipits but diffei 

 from all their relatives in having the back of the tarsus scaled as 

 well as the front. The form of the bill in the various genera 

 difi^ers to an extraordinary degree, being slender, as that of a 

 Warbler in some ; long and tapering with a slight terminal curve 

 (so as almost to recal the Hoopoes) in Cerihilauda ; broad, short 

 and notched like that of some Buntings in others. Unlike the 

 Finches, the bills of Larks do not seem to afford good sexual 

 distinctions, but as a general rule the males may be distinguished 

 from the females by their superior size, broader chests and 

 noticeably longer wings (see my little book " How to sex Cage- 

 Birds," p. 92); the hind claw is also said to be longer in the 

 males than in the females, but I have hitherto had no opportunity 

 of confirming the statement. 



Being related to the Finches and Pipits, the Larks natur- 

 ally feed both upon seeds and insects, and therefore should have 

 both in captivity. A good insectivorous mixture, a tea-spoonful 



