THE SHORT-TOED LARK. 185 



Vol. II, p. 466) " feeds on various insects, chiefly grasshoppers, and in default 

 of this food, on grain and seeds." This supports the statement made by 

 Seebohm : "The food of the Crested Lark does not differ from that of its 

 congeners. In the spring and summer it is chiefly composed of insects and 

 larvse, and in the autumn and winter of various small seeds and grain." It 

 is exactly what one would expect. In captivity it should have soft food, 

 seeds (Canary and millet) also insects, mealworms, etc. 



Family ALA UDID/E. 



THE SHORT-TOED LARK. 



Calandrella brackydactyla, LEISL. 



HOWARD SAUNDERS admits that this species has "been justifiably 

 placed in the genus Calandrella, characterized by the absence of crest, 

 a stout conical bill, straight and short hind-toe, and infinitesimal bastard 

 primary." I therefore see no advantage in continuing to call it Alauda. 



Inhabits Southern Europe in summer and is resident in Spain and Port- 

 ugal, as well as the Canaries and North-west Africa ; in winter it occurs in 

 North-east Africa and southwards as far as Abyssinia ; eastwards it breeds in 

 Persia, Turkestan, and North-west India. 



To Great Britain the Short- toed Lark is a rare straggler, about nine 

 authenticated instances of its occurrence having been recorded, six of them in 

 autumn, one in April, and one in July : of these one was obtained on the 

 Scilly Islands, one in Hampshire, four in Sussex, one in Cambridge, and one 

 in Shropshire: in 1890 one caught near Portsmouth was exhibited at the 

 Crystal Palace. 



The general colouring of the male in breeding-plumage is pale rufous or 



