SHORT-TOED LARK. 639 



families unite in large bands and, quitting the uncultivated 

 lands, resort to the fresh tilth and oat-fields, finally leaving 

 the country towards the end of August. In like manner it 

 inhabits Burgundy, and Mr. Edward Newton found it, in 

 1859, breeding near Blois, but it becomes still more numerous 

 further southward, as in Gascony, Languedoc and Provence. 

 In the last it abounds, say MM. Jaubert and Barthelemy- 

 Lapommeraye, from March to the end of September, but is 

 never found in winter. In Central and Southern Spain it is 

 exceedingly common, but here, or at least in Andalucia, a 

 second nearly-allied form has lately been detected by Lord 

 Lilford, the existence of which impairs the value of former 

 observations unless made by discriminating ornithologists. 

 This second form, described and figured by Mr. Dresser under 

 the name of Calandrella bcetica, is at once distinguished 

 from our bird by its greyer coloration and its distinctly 

 striped back and breast, and it appears to be confined to the 

 corn-lands, never frequenting the open " marisma " properly 

 so called, the dried edges of which, with the rough fallows, 

 C. brachydactyla particularly haunts. In Portugal our 

 Short-toed Lark is said to be very common, and Dr. Rey 

 found it especially so in barren places in the province of 

 Algarve. It has long been known from the Canaries, where 

 according to Dr. Bolle it is numerous on some of the islands, 

 and it is met with in suitable localities throughout North 

 Africa, from Morocco to Egypt. Here, however, also occurs 

 another allied form, C. minor (Cabanis), which has a 

 stouter bill, is smaller in size, more rufous in colour and 

 seems to be wholly a dweller in the desert. C. brachydactyla 

 nevertheless is plentiful in some parts of Algeria, where it 

 remains all the year round and like the rest of its brethren 

 in that country places its nest on the sheltered side of a 

 bush. It is also numerous in the Balearic and all the other 

 islands of the Mediterranean, being, according to Mr. Wright, 

 one of the most characteristic birds of Malta in the breeding- 

 season. In Northern and Central Italy it is common on its 

 spring and autumn passage, but it may possibly remain 

 throughout the winter in the south, as it certainly does in 



