Desert and Calandra Larks 649 



The call note of this species, according to the same author, is " a soft, low whistle, 

 and its song, which is generally uttered whilst the bird is on the wing, but some- 

 times also when it is sitting on the ground, is clear, sweet, and well modulated." 

 The nesting habits are similar to those of the groups already described, though 

 the nests are oftener near human habitations. The Crested Lark is a favorite 

 cage bird in certain parts of its range, notably in Germany and India, in the 

 latter country being frequently kept in a dark cage or one about which a cloth 

 is wrapped; it has a very sweet song in captivity. 



Sometimes included with the last, but usually separated on the basis of their 

 possessing a shorter, stouter bill, are a number of Crested Larks (Spizalauda) 

 which inhabit the Indian peninsula. They are resident birds where found, the 

 best-known being perhaps Syke's Crested Lark (S. deva}. 



Desert Lark. The largest member of the group appears to be the Desert 

 Lark (Altzmon desertorum), which attains a length of from eight and a half to 

 eleven inches, the female being much the smaller. The genus, which includes 

 several other species, is known by the long, slender, gently curved bill, fully 

 exposed nostrils, and short wings in which the outer primary is small though 

 exceeding the primary coverts, while the toes and claws are very short and the 

 latter very stout; the sexes are alike in plumage. The above-mentioned species, 

 which ranges widely over the deserts of northern Africa, and thence through 

 Persia and Afghanistan to western India, is isabelline-gray above, the chin and 

 throat white, the fore neck and breast pale fulvous spotted with black, and the 

 remainder of the lower parts white. The middle pair of tail-feathers are bright 

 fulvous and the others black with fulvous margins, except the outer pair, which 

 are white-margined, while the primaries are black with white bases. This 

 grayish or ashy plumage, it will be observed, harmonizes well with the sandy 

 wastes wherein it makes its home. It is said to run over the sand with 

 great speed, quite resembling a small Plover, while the male during the breed- 

 ing season utters his short, unpretentious song while circling in the air. In 

 India the Desert Lark breeds in May or June, making a small, grass-lined nest 

 on the sand and depositing usually three eggs, which are grayish white, marked 

 with yellowish brown. 



Calandra Larks. In some ways recalling the Horned Larks is a genus of 

 large, heavily built birds known as the Calandra Larks (Melanocorypha), but 

 they lack the hornlets on the side of the head and have rather thicker bills. 

 Of the half a dozen or more species the best-known is the true Calandra Lark 

 (M. calandra) of central and southern Europe and southwestern Asia, which is 

 looked upon as one of the sweetest singers of the many among which it dwells. 

 It is a wild and wary, quite Finch-like, bird, frequenting cultivated and barren 

 lands in both hills and plains, the male, according to Mathew, springing from 

 the ground "and with a graceful, undulating motion describes a series of large 

 circles until he rises to an immense height," giving forth the while his clear, 

 rich, and melodious song. So pleasing is the song that in southern Europe, 

 notably in Portugal, it is a favorite cage bird, and it is also esteemed as an 

 article of food. In the nesting season they occur only in pairs, but as cold 



