SIBERIAN LARK. ) 31 



The Siberian Lark is an inhabitant of Siberia, Tartary, and Southern 

 Russia, and rarely of Poland. It is also included by Captain Blakiston 

 among the birds shot by him in the Crimea. — "Zoologist," 1857, p. 

 5509. It has been once taken in England, and figured by Gould, 

 and will be by Newton. It is, however, a very rare bird, and I do 

 not think a single English capture ought to induce me to omit it 

 from my work. The example in question was shot at Brighton among 

 a flock of Snow Buntings, one of which it was at first considered to 

 be. Mr. Dawson Rowley, however, with the assistance of Professor 

 Newton, determined it to be a Siberian Lark. These captures of rare 

 European birds at Brighton, and Brighton for the most part only, are 

 singular. This bird is contained in Messrs. Elwes and Buckley's list 

 of the birds of Turkey, ("Ibis," 1870, p. 195,) where it is said to 

 appear in hard winters. 



Its habits are described as similar to those of the rest of the family. 

 By the kindness of Mr. Tristram I am able to give a figure not only 

 of the bird but its egg, both of which that gentleman received from 

 Dr. Middendorff. 



The bird has at first sight much the appearance of a Bunting. 

 Captain Blakiston thus describes his meeting with it, ("Zoologist," 

 5509:— 



"A few days after the 5th. of January I wag again on the qui vive, 

 as a friend told me he had seen some Buntings white below and 

 rusty coloured above; with this hint I made for a camp, where he 

 said some had been shot, the ground being covered with snow, and 

 sure enough, on looking over a heap of small birds, I found the 

 Calandra Lark, Common Bunting, and another new to me, which I 

 put down for distinction as 'Lark Bunting, No. 20,' the skin as well 

 as the sternum of which I preserved. The same officer a day or two 

 afterwards kindly sent me a specimen of the same bird, the White- 

 winged Lark, (Alauda leucoptera,) a male." This was determined 

 afterwards by Mr. Gould, and Captain Blakiston gives a long and 

 accurate description of it in its winter dress. 



M. Ch. F. Dubois has an excellent figure of the bird, both in its 

 young and adult plumage, with the following remarks: — "Though this 

 bird is so rare in Europe, M. le Baron Selys-Longchamps possesses 

 one, which was taken in the environs of Liege, in December, 1855. 

 Having had it preserved, he kindly brought it to me to add to the 

 supplementary list, before the family of Larks was concluded. The 

 habits and propagation of this bird are very little known; its voice 

 is not so agreeable as that of the Skylark, though its movements are 

 equally elegant. It nests like it on the ground, in a slight excavation. 



