Bii'ds of Madagascar. 435 



This extraordinary form of the beak is seen best perhaps in 

 the skeleton^ in which the beak is seen to be considerably" 

 larger than the skull. The bird is as large as a Starling, 

 velvety black in colour, and with a saddle-shaped patch of 

 light brown on the back extending to the base of the middle 

 tail-feathers. This is probably alluded to in a Sakaiava 

 name for the bird — Fbndrampbry , " Yellow-rumped." The 

 large beak is steely blue in colour_, and is described by 

 Mr. Crossley as pearly, like the inside of an oyster-shell, but 

 the tints fade away soon after death. 



One species of Lark is a native of Madagascar, and is very 

 common on the bare downs of the interior provinces. In 

 habits and appearance this bird is very much like the Euro- 

 pean species, but its song is less full and varied. After 

 hovering some time, it may be seen mounting up in the air 

 to a great height, uttering its trilling notes, as if in salute to 

 the rising sun, and then letting itself fall suddenly to the 

 ground. Seeds and insects, especially grasshoppers, form 

 its chief food. This Lark is not at all shy, but is difficult 

 to obtain, as it hides in the dry grass, which it exactly re- 

 sembles in colour — a greyish brown. The eggs are laid in. 

 a slight hollow in the ground, quite exposed to observation, 

 the protective resemblance of the hen bird to its surround- 

 ings preserving them from danger. M. Grandidier says that 

 this Lark is most pugnacious, and that if two male birds are 

 enclosed in a cage they fight furiously, until the combat ends 

 in the death of one of them. 



Many native proverbs refer to the Sorbhitra, the Hova 

 name for this Lark, some of which are obscure, but the 

 folloAving seem to refer to its peculiar flight already men- 

 tioned : " A Lark falling in the forest, because it doesn^t 

 know how to fly " (lit. " is a fool in flying ") ; " Thrown at, 

 but not to be eaten, like a Lark on a grave." The unpro- 

 tected state of the young birds when the hen is driven off the 

 nest is referred to in the following : " A Lark's nestlings by 

 the roadside : I did not cast them off, but they were forsaken 

 by their mother." The Hova name appears to be derived 

 from a root rbhitra, meaning '' to go with a rush,'' or " to go iu 



