112 THE BIRDS OF SUSSEX. 



beeu few and far between. Its first appearance in Sussex is 

 that of an example in the late Mr. Bond's collection, which 

 was procured at Littlehampton, and from which the figure 

 in YarrelFs ^ Britisli Birds ■* was taken; it is now in the 

 possession of Mr. Whitaker, of Rainworth Lodge_, Notts. 

 Another was procured near Shoreham_, by a bird-catcher, on 

 the 20th of October, 1863, and seen alive the same day by 

 Mr. Rowley, as is recorded in the ' Ibis,' 1864, p. 224<. 'Phis 

 example is now in the collection of Mr. Monk. Besides 

 these, I have in my own cullcction another specimen, which 

 Avas captured by a bird-catcher at Portslade, near Brighton, 

 October 10th, 1881, and taken to Mr. Pratt's shop in that 

 town; this proved on dissection to be an adult male. I 

 recorded it in the ' Zoologist,' p. 494, for 1881. It is a more 

 familiar bird than the Sky-Lark, frequenting in its own 

 country the roads, and even making its appearance among 

 the houses of the villages, often perching on the walls. The 

 cock has a soft and pleasant song, generally given on the 

 Aving, and the hen is said to sing also. The nest is generally 

 phiced in a hoof-print, or other depression in the ground, 

 though sometimes on a bank or mud wall, or even on the 

 edge of a low thatched shed (see Yarrell's B. B. vol. i. 

 p. 633—4). It is easily distinguished from tlie Sky-Lark by 

 the reddish-buff colour of the under surface of the winas. 



SHORT-TOED LARK. 



Alauda brachydactyla. 



This species, like the last, is a very rare visitant to Britain. 

 The fii'st appearance in Sussex was that of one which had been 

 taken in a lark-net near Brighton in September 1854. It 



