SHORT-TOED LARK. 



Alauda brachydactyla, GOULD. 



Alauda A Lark. Brachydaciyla. Srachus Short. 



Dactylos A linger. 



I SHOULD be glad if the proverb that 'least said is soonest 

 mended' applied to the case of a bird of whose Natural 

 History one knows but little; but small as the present amount 

 of my information about the Short-toed Lark is, I have no 

 present prospect of increasing it. 



This species is common in the southern parts of Europe 

 in Sicily, France, and Spain, and is also found in Germany. 

 It occurs in fact along all the shores of the Mediterranean, 

 both in Africa and in Asia. 



One was caught in a net near Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, 

 on the 25th. of October, 1841. 



The food of this bird consists of insects and seeds. 



The nest is placed on the ground. 



The eggs are four or five in number, and of a dull yellow 

 colour. 



Male; length, five inches and three quarters; bill, light 

 brown. There is a yellowish white streak over the eye. Head 

 on the crown, neck on the back, and nape, yellowish brown, 

 with the centre of each feather darker than the rest; chin, 

 throat, and breast, white, the latter tinged on the middle 

 and the sides with yellowish brown; back, yellowish brown, 

 the centre of each feather being darker than the edges. The 

 second quill feather is the longest, the first and third a little 

 shorter; primaries and secondaries, dusky brown. The tertiaries 

 extend as far as the end of the closed wing. Tail, dusky 



