256 BRITISH BIRDS. 



ALAUDA ARBOREA. 

 WOOD-LARK. 



(PLATE 15.) 



Alauda arborea, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 287 (1766) ; et auctorum plurimorum 

 Gmelin, Latham, Scopoli, Temminck, Degland Sf Gerbe, Salvadori, Dresser, New- 

 ton, &c. 



Alauda nemorosa, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 797 (1788). 



Alauda cristatella, Lath. 2nd. Orn. ii. p. 499 (1790). 



Lullula arborea (Linn.}, Kaup, Natiirl. Syst. p. 92 (1829). 



Galerida nemorosa (Gmel.), Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. p. 316 (1831). 



Galerida arborea (Linn.}, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. p. 317 (1831). 



Few British birds are more widely but locally distributed in our islands 

 than the Wood-Lark. It seems to be nowhere very common, but is 

 found in well-planted districts where the soil is sandy or at least dry. 

 It avoids wet or clay land, but probably breeds in suitable districts through- 

 out the southern half of England and Wales. In the north of England it 

 is more local and less abundant than in the south, but has been known to 

 breed in most counties. In Scotland it is a rare bird, and is only known 

 to have bred in one locality at Tor wood in Stirlingshire, where its nest 

 was taken by my friend Harvie-Brown. It has, however, occurred more 

 or less frequently in many other parts of the country, as far north as 

 Caithness; and a specimen was killed in Mr. Dunn's garden at Stromness 

 in Orkney. Thompson says that it is very local in Ireland, appearing 

 principally to be found in those counties bordering the eastern and 

 southern coasts, from Antrim in the north to Cork in the south-west. 



The Wood-Lark is locally distributed throughout Central and Southern 

 Europe. In Scandinavia and West Russia it only occurs accidentally 

 north of lat. 60, and in East Russia it does not apparently range further 

 north or east than the valley of the Volga. In the north of France, 

 Holland, Belgium, Germany, and in the rest of its range to the north and 

 the east it is a summer visitor only. In the south of France, Spain, 

 Portugal, North-west Africa, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Asia Minor, the 

 Caucasus, and North-west Persia it is principally known as a winter 

 visitor, but a few remain to breed in the mountains. It occasionally 

 straggles into North Egypt in winter. The Wood-Lark has no near ally, 

 and is subject to scarcely any local variation in colour. 



In this country the Wood-Lark appears to be an irregular or partial 

 migrant, often leaving its summer haunts at the approach of winter to 

 retire to districts where it is unknown in the breeding-season. Neverthe- 



