1598 



THE PERCHING BIRDS 



lark, it will readily take to a perch. The cock has a lively song, given on the 

 wing both in the morning and evening, but seldom in the middle of the day. The 

 nest is formed of a few bits of grass collected in a depression of the ground, often a 

 horse's footprint, and the eggs, four or five in number, are of a French white, gen- 

 erally minutely freckled with pale hair brown. The adult has the upper parts 

 sandy gray, the feathers having dark centres; the wings and tail are blackish brown, 

 some of the feathers being margined with buff; the sides of the head are marked 

 with blackish brown, a creamy-white stripe extending over and behind the eye; oa 





CAI.ANDRA LARK. 



(One-half natural size.) 



each side of the upper part of the breast is a blackish-brown patch; and the under 

 parts generally are white washed with buff. Individual specimens vary considerably 

 in tint, some being more rufous or gray than others. 



This group comprehends a small assemblage of large, stout-billed 

 larks, characterized by black patches of feathers on each side of the 

 breast. The wing has ten primaries, the first being very minute, and 

 is very long, reaching nearly to the tip of the tail; the claw of the first toe being 

 long and straight. This Old-World group is chiefly found in Southern Europe, 



The Calandra 

 Larks 



