240 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATUEAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIII. 
any solution would be to sow the seeds a little earlier so that all the plants have 
more than four leaves before the Sky Larks arrive, though whether this is possible 
or not I leave to the agriculturists. Logan Home noted that in the Tekrit area 
they often associated with Calandra Larks. 
The Sky Larks leaves again in March, many have gone by mid. March and all 
have departed by the end of the third week. 
Thirty skins examined November to March, but many of them were in poor 
condition and the determination of the races in some has been very difficult or 
impossible. There is no doubt however that the majority belong to the grey 
eastern form dulcivox, and that this is the commonest of the two races. Eight 
birds I refer to the South-East European race cantarella which is rather darker. 
Zarudny records both races for the Karun district in winter and Neumann 
records A. arborea cinerea (a mis-print for A. arvensis cinerea from Ras-el- 
Ain. 15 specimens of dulcivov measure :—Wing 105—120 mm. 
Oi recent years the name cinerea (or cinerascens) of Ehmcke has been used for 
this grey Eastern Sky Lark which is the breeding bird of West Siberia, Turkestan, 
etc., and quite incorrectly as I believe. Brooks (8S. F. i, p. 484) described a Sky 
Lark, clearly of the arvensis group, from the Alpine region of North India as 
dulcivoa. His description agrees well with the Siberian bird and he did not 
say nor is there any proof that his dulcivox was breeding in the Himalayas*. 
Most of the older records of Sky Larks breeding in this region were muddled 
up with gulgula and so far as I have been able to ascertain no arvensis breeds 
in the alpine regions of North India except perhaps locally in Cashmere, and 
these seem to me to be in no way different from the Siberian breeding hirds, 
hence cinerascens must give place to the much older name of dulcivox for this 
race. 
42. Wood-Lark. Lullula arborea. 
? Lullula arborea pallida, Zar. (Orn. Monat., 1902, p. 54—(Mountains 
of Transcaspia.) 
This species was perhaps overlooked by most observers as there are only 
records from Amara, where Cheesman and Buxton found it plentiful in small 
parties on the river banks from November to February 10th, 1918. Ihave no 
other records from Mesopotamia. Zarudny includes it as a breeding species in 
the Zagros and Khorasan districts. 
Four specimens examined ; these are paler above, especially on the rump than 
the typical race from western Europe and the underparts not so yellow below, 
in fact barely tinged with yeliow. Similarly pale winter birds are to be found 
‘in Palestine, the Taurus and Syria. Woodlarks are exceedingly difficult birds 
to determine races of as each month’s wear makes such a great difference in the 
plumage, but these four skins are distinctly paler than West European ones at 
the same time of the year and it is probable that an Eastern race should be re- 
cognized and so I place them under Zarudny’s name pallida tentatively, as I have 
not seen any birds from Transcaspia. 
43. Bifasciated Lark. Alamon alaudipes, 
Alemon alaudipes pallida, Blyth (J. A. 8. B. xvi, p. 180, 1847—Ullah 
Bund in Sind. 
So far as records go this lark is only found on the desert on the west side of the 
Euphrates and Shat-al-Arab ; Cheesman, who travelled extensively throughout 
the country, failed to meet with it elsewhere. Cheesman and Buxton met with 
it fairly commonly at Shaiba in June (breeding) and in August ; Logan Home at 
Rumailah on June 5th saw half grown young ;Cheesman saw it near Nasariyeh. 
and Harrisonat Ramadi in October. Pitman came across it twice, west 
* He clearly considered (Ibis, 1892, p. 61) that the Punjab arvensis, the “ big grey Skylark ’’ 
which comes to the plains in winter, was dulcivoz, 
