388 ALAUDA 



middle feathers greyish brown, the outer feathers nearly all white, the next 

 with the outer web white ; under parts buffy white, the flanks dusky, the 

 throat speckled and the breast streaked with brown ; bill brown above, dull 

 flesh-colour below ; legs yellowish brown ; iris dark brown Culmen 0'6, 

 wing 4'4, tail 2 '8, tarsus 0'9, hind-toe with claw T05 inch. Sexes alike 

 except that the female is slightly smaller. The young bird has the feathers 

 margined with sandy buff and tipped with dull white on the upper parts, 

 and the under parts are creamy buff streaked with brown on the breast 



Hob. Europe; from Northern Scandinavia to the Mediter- 

 ranean ; the Canaries, Madeira ; North Africa and Asia Minor 

 in winter; Asia as far east as the Pacific, and north to 

 Kamchatka ; in winter Afghanistan, Persia, Turkestan, North- 

 West India and Northern China, Mongolia and Manchuria ; the 

 northern island of Japan in summer, resident in the southern 

 island. 



Frequents plains, fields, arid open places, and in winter 

 collects in large flocks ranging about the country in search of 

 food, and throughout its range it appears to be a migrant. It 

 feeds chiefly on seeds and grain, leaves of grass and of other 

 plants, and in summer to some extent on insects. It is gene- 

 rally seen on the ground, hardly ever perching on a bush, or 

 tree. It runs with ease and rapidity and its flight is easy, 

 being a succession of slight undulations with short alternate 

 cessations. Its song is usually uttered whilst the bird is hover- 

 ing and circling high in the air, but is often continued after it 

 has alighted, and is cheerful and protracted. It breeds in 

 Europe as far north as Bodo, and possibly the Varanger fiord ; 

 sparingly in North Africa, and in Asia as far north as Kam- 

 chatka. The nest which is placed on the ground is constructed 

 of straws and grass-bents lined with similar but finer materials, 

 and the eggs 3 to 5 in number are dull grey or olive-grey, with 

 pale purplish or light brown shell-markings and dark nut- 

 brown surface-spots or blotches, which are frequently collected 

 round the larger end and measure about 0*94 by O65. 



The Skylark is subject to considerable variation in shade of 

 colour, and has by many authors been separated into several 

 subspecies of which I may mention A. cantarella, from the 

 Mediterranean east to Persia, N.-W. India, Siberia and N. 

 China. A. guttata and A. leiopus from Kashmir and the 

 Himalayas. A. blakistoni from Kamchatka and E. Siberia 

 and A. japonica from Japan, but all these intergrade inter se 

 and with typical A. arvensis, so that I am unable to assign 

 even subspecific rank to any of those forms or varieties. 



