LARKS. 



81 



with black tip; feet purplish^brown ; irides dark hazel. 

 Female smaller, the dark parts less black, browner ; 

 ear-tufts and gorget smaller. 



J. I. S. Whitaker (" Birds of Tunisia," Vol. L, 

 pp. 293-294) says : " 0. bilopha, like other Horned 

 Larks, is exclusively a ground bird, and is usually to be 

 found frequenting stony plains, in preference to the 

 sandy desert or the salt marsh-country of the Sebkas. 

 Elevated rocky plateaux are favourite haunts of the 

 bird, and of these there is no lack in Southern Tunisia. 

 The vegetation of these districts is naturally of a desert 

 or semi-desert description, and is limited to stunted, 

 dwarf shrubs and low-growing plants, which, however, 

 appear to afford shelter to the birds and convenient 

 sites for their nsts. According to Dr. Koenig, one of 

 the commonest of these plants is HeliantJiemum, 

 hirtum, Pers, and where that shru'b grows one may 

 be almost sure of meeting with O. bilopha. Haifa- 

 grass and other graminaceous plants also flourish in 

 some of these districts. In such localities the Desert 

 Horned Lark is to be met with chiefly in pairs during 

 the early spring and in flocks during the remainder of 

 the year, when it is apparently more shy, and not so 

 easily approached as it is in the spring. During the 

 breeding season the species is certainly anything but 

 shy, and allows one to approach close to it. 



"In Tripoli Mr. Dodson found the species in small 

 family parties in the late spring, and in flocks, often 

 of considerable size, during the summer, when occa- 

 sionally he noticed the Horned Larks consorting with 

 the small Desert Lark, Ammomanes C. versicolor. He 

 observed a peculiar habit the present species has of 

 flying in curves when ascending, uttering a short, sharp 

 note while doing so, and then a more prolonged note 

 when descending. The male (bird has a rather bright 

 and pleasant though disconnected song. The food of 

 the species consists of small seeds and insects. 



" To Dr. Koenig, who was fortunate enough to meet 

 with several nests and eggs of this Lark in the 

 Algerian, Sahara, we are indebted for some interesting 

 notes concerning its breeding habits. The nests he 

 found were generally placed at the foot of a desert 

 shrub, often Helianthemum hirtum, and were carefully 

 constructed of plant-stems and grasses, lined with a 

 little wool and pieces of linen stuff, the whole being 

 surrounded by small stones. The eggs, of which two 

 appear to be the usual complement, although three are 

 sometimes found, vary considerably in tint, the ground- 

 colour being at times cream colour, at others a pinkish- 

 white, and. occasionally bluish or greenish -white ; the 

 shell-spots are violet, and the surface-spots brick- 

 brown. Sometimes the entire surface of the egg has* a 

 clouded or marbled appearance. The average measure- 

 ments appear to be 21 x 15 mm." 



Five examples of this Lark .were purchased by the 

 Zoological 'Society of London in January, 1889. 



WHITE-BELLIED SHORE LARK (Otocorys chrysolcemd). 



A race of the common Shore Lark, but considerably 

 smaller, and with the throat rich or pale yellow ; 

 general colour more ruddy and less vinous. Female 

 smaller than male, and, of course, with shorter wing. 

 Hab., "Tablelands of Mexico, extending north to 

 southern New Mexico and Arizona, and westward across 

 Southern California to the coast." (Ridgway, 

 " Manual," p. 349.) 



J. G. Cooper, who recognises only one so-called 

 Horned Lark in California, says (" Ornithology of Cali- 

 fornia," Vol. I., p. 253) : "In May or June the males 

 rise nearly perpendicularly into the air until almost 

 out of sight, and fly about in an irregular circle, sing- 



ing a sweet and varied song for several minutes, when 

 they descend again, nearly to the spot they started 

 from. 



" The nest is made in a small depression of the 

 ground, usually under a tuft of grass or a bush, com- 

 posed of grass, sometimes lined with hairs, and the eggs 

 are bluish-white with darker spots nearly covering 

 them ; their number four or five. 



" In the fall they associate sometimes is very large 

 flocks, frequenting the bare plains or prairies, but not 

 the sea-shore. Both the name of Skylark (belonging 

 properly to another species) and Shore Lark are ob- 

 jectionable, and Horned Lark, though not strictly 

 correct, is the most appropriate, and as applicable as 

 Horned Owl 



" Their food consists of the small seeds and insects 

 they find among the grass. They probably never alight 

 on a tree or bush." 



On the other hand, Major Bendire tells us (" Life His- 

 tories," Vol. II., p. 341) : "It is also reported as breed- 

 ing at San Quentin, near the coast. " It is not uncom- 

 mon throughout the coast districts of Southern 

 California." On p. 342 he says : " Nidification usually 

 begins about the middle of April, and probably two 

 broods are regularly raised in a season, as fresh eggs 

 are frequently found in June. From two to four are laid 

 in a set, generally three. These resemble those of the 

 previously described sub-species in coloration and shape. 



" The average measurements of twenty eggs in the 

 United States National Museum collection is 20.69 x 

 15.37 mm., or about 0.82 x 0.60 inch." 



CALAXDRA LARK (Melanocorypha calandrd). 



The general colouring of the upper parts is brown, 

 somewhat buffish on the mantle and greyish on the 

 rump ; the upper tail coverts with a tawny hue, the 

 feathers of the crown, neck, mantle, and upper back 

 with blackish centres ; lesser wing-coverts greyish- 

 brown ; remainder of wing-feathers dark brown with 

 slightly tawny borders ; the flights, excepting the inner- 

 most secondaries with white tips, the second primary 

 with white border to the outer web ; tail feathers dark 

 brown with ruddy brown borders, all excepting the two 

 central ones with tips increasingly white, the last but 

 one on each side having the outer web white and the 

 last feather almost entirely so ; lores and superciliary 

 streak pale buff ; sides of face spotted with blackish, 

 ear-coverts brown with buffish shaft-streaks ; cheeks 

 pale ; a creamy patch on the neck behind the ear- 

 coverts ; under parts, white ; a black triangular patch 

 on each side of the throat ; neck spotted with triangular 

 markings ; a large brown patch tinted with tawny and 

 spotted with blackish on each side of the breast ; flanks, 

 ruddy greyish-brown ; hill, horn-brown ; feet, brown ; 

 iris, hazel. 



The female is slightly smaller than the male, and has 

 the first long primaries' shorter than in that sex ; it is 

 also slightly more ruddy in tint, is more spotted with 

 black on the breast, and has smaller black patches on 

 the throat. Hab., Southern and Central Europe and 

 the Mediterranean, through Persia to Central Asia and 

 the Altai district, southwards to Northern Afghanistan. 



Although this species has been included in various 

 works on British birds, there is no certainty that it 

 has ever visited our islands ; it is, moreover, such a 

 favourite cage-bird in the South of Europe, whence it 

 is imported into this country by the foreign bird- 

 dealers, usually in very rough condition, that I feel 

 bound to include it in this series of foreign cage-birds. 



In its wild state the Calandra Lark is very similar 

 in habits to our Skylark, frequenting open and cul- 



