LARKS. 427 



found in the Himalaya and adjoining plateaus, two of the number being peculiar 

 to very high altitudes ; Mr. Blanford having met with Elwes' horned lark in 

 Sikhim at nearly eighteen thousand feet elevation. 



The horned lark breeds on the fjelds and tundras of Northern Europe, 

 extending southwards into Central Norway. Formerly it was regarded as a rare 

 straggler to the coast of Great Britain, but it is now known that considerable 

 numbers of these birds annually cross the North Sea to winter upon the eastern 

 shores of England. Certain spots are frequented by these birds year after year, 

 where they feed chiefly on the seeds of marine plants. For many years the 

 horned shore-larks that visited Britain proved to be males almost exclusively ; but 

 females have latterly been taken in considerable numbers, although not in the 

 same proportion as the males. The shore-larks, which winter on the British coast, 

 rarely wander inland, although they sometimes migrate across England from the 

 Yorkshire coast to that of Lancashire. They arrive during the last months of the 

 year, and remain until the end of February, or even the middle of March. Mr. 

 Seebohm writes that " the shore-lark is as much a bird of the tundra as the snow- 

 bunting and the Lapland bunting, but it breeds at a lower latitude than the former 

 species, and is almost as abundant as the latter is more local. It avoids the 

 marshy districts, and confines itself to dry sandy plains or rocky hills, though it 

 comes down to the mud-shores of the rivers to drink. It is one of the earliest of 

 the small birds to arrive at its breeding-grounds. The snow-bunting and the 

 mealy redpoll arrive first, and may be seen running about on the snow some weeks 

 before the ice breaks up ; but as soon as the thaw begins in earnest a batch of 

 small birds arrives, among which is sure to be the shore - lark . . . During 

 migration the shore-lark is a gregarious bird, and though the first flocks consisted 

 of shore-larks only, as soon as the Lapland buntings began to arrive, they seemed 

 to be on the best of terms together, and the later flocks usually consisted of both 

 species. Flocks of pipits were migrating about the same time, and it was very 

 striking to contrast the wildness of these birds with the tameness of the shore- 

 larks. The shore-lark often sings on the ground, and when apparently too busy 

 feeding to mount in the air for the purpose, will occasionally utter snatches of 

 song. At their breeding-places they sing continually, mounting up into the air 

 like a skylark, and singing their charming song as they sail about with wings and 

 tail expanded. The song is very melodious though short; and among its few 

 variations a long drawn-out note often occurs, which resembles much the song of 

 the corn-bunting. It often remains some time in the air and sings its little song 

 several times over before it descends. It will also sing from the roof of the 

 wooden houses. Its call -note is loud and clear, but scarcely capable of being 

 expressed by a word. In Lapland, the shore-lark lays its eggs from the middle of 

 May to the middle of June, but in Siberia not before the latter date. The nest is 

 always built on the ground, generally in some slight hollow. I found one in 

 Finmark in the middle of a mountain-pass, in the hollow formed by the foot of a 

 horse in the soft mud which the sun had afterwards hardened. Others were 

 amongst stones on the bare ground, and one under the shelter of some rushes in 

 the grass. The nest is loosely made of dry grass and stalks ; and the inside, which 

 is rather deep, is lined with willow down or reindeer hair. Four is the usual 



