468 Mr. A. L. Butler on the 
several times, and then, concluding that, whatever kind of 
Lark it might be, it was probably a breeding male with a 
female sitting close at hand, approached the tree and com- 
nenced a careful search for a nest in the vicinity. During 
this the bird, which was very shy, moved off to some other 
trees, from which it continued to make little soarmg song- 
flights as before. Failing to find a nest, and being compelled 
to push on, I went in pursuit of the bird, and managed, with 
considerable difficulty, to get near enough to shoot it. I 
then saw that I had got the Red-tailed Bush-Lark at last. 
It proved, as I expected, to be a breeding male, with the 
testes very largely developed, and I have little doubt that 
the hen bird was sitting somewhere close by all the time. 
We reached the Pongo at nightfall next day. Close to 
our camp a few acres of grass and bush were blazing luridly 
in the darkness. Visiting the spot next morning, I was 
surprised and delighted to find two or three hundred of these 
Larks collected at the scene of the conflagration, settling 
on the tree-tops and on the charred bushes, or feeding busily 
on singed and dead insects among the grass-ashes. On the 
ground they ran rapidly, and had something of the appear- 
ance of large Pipits. Abundant as the birds were, they were 
exceedingly wild and difficult to approach, and after a con- 
siderable—and fruitless—expenditure of ‘410 ammunition, I 
had to send for a 12-bore and some No. 6 cartridges; even 
then I had some difficulty im obtaining four examples. 
Never liking to kill a large series of the same bird in the 
same locality, I contented myself with my five specimens, 
and subsequently left these Larks alone. It was not until 
my return that I noticed that all my birds were males, and I 
have since greatly regretted my moderation. 
I never saw the birds in such numbers again, but I met 
with pairs and small parties almost every day afterwards. 
On the plain by the Chell River at Chak Chak I watched 
a male soar to a height of perhaps 1000 ft., singing beauti- 
fully all the time. I never saw another mount so high. 
In the grassy “ khors” between Chak Chak and Dem 
Zubeir these Larks were common, and here on March 9th 
