Larks. 93 



Thick-billed Lark {Calendula crassirostris). 



" The sexes are alike in colour, but the female has rather a 

 smaller bill. The wing appears to be from 3 - 95 to 4T in the males, 

 and from 3 - 75 to 3*9 in the females" (Sharpe, Catalogue of Birds, 

 vol. xiii p. 640). 



Madras Bush-Lark {Mirafra affinis). 



The sexes are alike in plumage, but the female is smaller, and 

 has a shorter wing ; as the tail also is a good bit shorter, the body 

 of the female would be almost as long as that of the male, and 

 therefore would be heavier in proportion to the size of the wings. 



Tientsin or Mongolian Lark {Melanocorypha mongolica). 



Dr Sharpe states that, unfortunately, none of the Museum 

 specimens are sexed as females, but the larger birds are sexed as 

 males; he gives the wing measurements as from 4-9 to 5*0 inches, 

 and from 5*25 to 5-4 inches, and thinks that the former are probably 

 female birds ; there cannot be much doubt of this. 



Calandra Lark {Melanocorypha calandra). 



In addition to its smaller size and considerably shorter wing, 

 " the female is generally more rufous than the male, and has the 

 throat more plentifully spotted with black, and the black patch on 

 the sides of the neck is smaller " (Sharpe, Catalogue of Birds, vol. 

 xiii. p. 553). 



Black Lark {Melanocorypha yeltoniensis). 



In addition to its much smaller size and shorter wing, the female 

 differs from the male in being more like the preceding species. Dr 

 Sharpe describes it as follows : — " Ochreous-brown, with dark 

 centres to the feathers, the crown mottled with black ; quills 

 blackish, with whity-brown edges, whiter on the primaries, under- 

 surface of body white, with a sandy-buff tinge on the throat ; the 

 fore-neck, breast, and sides of body spotted with black, some of the 

 markings longitudinal and even spear-shaped, the flanks especially 

 streaked" {Catalogue of Birds, vol. xiii. p. 560). 



Shore-Lark {Otocoris alpestris). 



In addition to its smaller size and shorter wing, the female in 

 summer plumage is browner than the male, and less tinted with 

 vinous ; the black band on the crown less prominent ; the back 

 of the crown and the nape brown, the latter and the back more 

 distinctly marked with dark brown than in the male ; the black 

 on the sides of the face and throat less pronounced, and the fore- 

 head and throat, which are white in the male, are yellowish in the 

 female. 



The White-bellied Shore-Lark {0. chrysolcema), being a native 

 of Cuba, is not frequently imported as a cage-bird. 



