WA G TAILS— LARKS 



233 





districts of the Altai, and one of its varieties ranges from Turkestan to southern 

 Russia, whence several varieties have spread over Bulgaria and the Mediterranean 

 countries and from Greece to Spain, these varying not only in colour and size hut 

 also in song and habits. The few crested larks found in Switzerland and Styria are 

 probably descended from these Mediterranean birds. One variety is indigenous to 

 Portugal, where it perches on trees, which the typical form never does. Other 

 crested larks came westward through the Iron Gate and slowly made their way up 

 the valley of the Danube. In 1864 they had reached Arnsdorf, where sis years 

 later they had consider- 

 ably increased in numbers, 

 but they did not appear 

 in the environs of Vienna 

 before 1879. Another 

 line of advance was along 

 the valley of the Oder, 

 turning to the west on 

 reaching the Baltic. Near 

 St. Petersburg the crested 

 lark has not even yet been 

 seen, and to Sweden and 

 England it is only an 

 occasional visitor. In 

 Schleswig it is only seen 

 in winter, but then very 

 frequently ; in 1850 it 

 was found nesting in 

 Holstein, and in 1856 on 

 the island of Sylt. In 

 Oldenburg it appeared 

 first in 1820, but had 

 considerably increased by 

 1853 ; and in 1848 it be- 

 came more numerous near 

 Berlin, and seven years 

 later appeared at Seppen- 

 rade in Westphalia. In 

 southern Thuringia it is 



even now a rare winter bird, while in north-western Thuringia it was found 

 nesting at Schlottheim, near Mulhausen, in 1854. At Xeuwied on the Rhine it 

 nested first in 1840, and in 1878 reached Saarbrucken. A remarkable feature 

 of its progress is its having kept to the high-roads, near which its nests are 

 generally found. These wide roads, it may be noticed, are not unlike the barren 

 Chinese and Mongolian steppes, and the crested lark is essentially a bird of the 

 steppe, much more so indeed than any of the other birds migrating into central 

 Europe from the south-east. By following these roads, the crested lark at once 

 attracted the attention of man, who was thus able to watch its gradual advance. 



THE SKYLARK. 



