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red, and the fore neck and breast of a yellowish 

 red, whence this species derives the name of Eed 

 Sandpiper. 



LAKK, CRESTED. 



ALAUDA CEISTATA, Lin. 



This bird has some resemblance in form to the 

 Sky-lark, from which, however, it differs in having 

 a longitudinal crest, consisting of ten feathers in 

 the shape of a cone, reclining backwards. The head 

 and bill of this species are rather large in propor- 

 tion to its size, for it is a small specimen of the 

 feathered tribe, being only about seven inches long. 

 As far as we have any record, only two instances 

 are known of its having been met with in 

 Britain. Of these, one was killed in Sussex, and 

 the other in Ireland in 1836. Its extreme 

 rarity in this country is a very singular circum- 

 stance, as it is a common bird in the fields and 

 plains round Calais, where it remains all the year, 

 as well as in many other parts of France, not to 

 speak of Switzerland, Spain, Africa, &c., in which 

 it is not a stranger. The nest, which the female 

 makes on the ground in cultivated fields, is con- 

 structed very like that of the Sky-lark, and the 

 eggs, of which there are said to be four or five, are 

 of a light ash colour, with light and dark brown 

 spots. 



