PYEliHULAUDA GEISEA. 639 



dreary wastes without another living creature near save a few Stints or Shore-Plovers, which were running 

 along the edge of the tepid water, having nothing in common with the lonely little " Squat Sparrow." It is 

 also generally found on the uncultivated paddy-fields (converted by want of irrigation and a burning sun 

 into the barest possible pasture) which are so marked a feature of the poverty-stricken districts of the north 

 and south-east ; here it displays a sociable nature, feeding in closely associated little troops, and tripping 

 along the ground like a party of Munias. It is excessively tame, and, as Jerdon truly remarks, squats 

 stupidly on the ground, and will almost allow itself to be ridden over. From its squatting habits it has 

 obtained its numerous native Indian sobriquets. Its ordinary note is a cheerful little chirrup ; but it has a 

 sweet song which it warbles out when rising in the air, like a true Lark, though it does not mount so high, 

 nor does it remain poised on expanded wing more than a minute or two. It has a habit of suddenly rising 

 off the ground and quickly dropping again ; but when moving about it is capable of considerable powers of 

 flight. True to the nature of its family, it is one of the first birds abroad in the morning ; but it is also one of 

 the last to go to roost at night, the song of the male being often heard after the short tropical twilight has 

 sunk into the shades of night. It feeds on small grass-seeds ; but I have often found insects in its stomach, 

 and have seen it dart up and catch a passing fly. The males congregate together out of the breeding-season, 

 and seem to leave their quondam mates to their own devices. 



Jerdon writes concerning it : — " It is remarkable for the sudden ascents and descents of its flight, 

 mounting up some height by a few flappings of its wings and then descending almost perpendicularly till it 

 nearly reaches the ground, when it again rises as before, and repeats this several times. In general it takes 

 but a short flight, and on alighting squats close to the ground, and will allow itself to be ridden over 

 before it rises. It occasionally may be seen seated on the housetop ; but I never saw it perch on a tree, 

 except on one occasion when I observed about twelve or fifteen of them perched on a low tree close to 

 Cantonment in the hot weather." 



Sundevall speaks of it singing in the air with expanded wings, as I have noticed above ; but I have 

 nevertheless only seen it do this in the dusk of the evening and at daybreak. 



Niclification. — The Finch-Lark breeds in the north and east of Ceylon from April until August, placing 

 its nest in exposed places and bare spots away from all shelter. It sometimes scoops a hole in the ground 

 for its domicile, while at others it chooses a small rut or natural hollow. I have found its nest on esplanades 

 and public commons close to the paths frequented by hundreds of natives during the day. They are, as 

 a rule, loosely put together, made of dry grass, roots, stalks, bits of rag or cotton, and without any 

 particular lining; but some are more neatly constructed of fine grass like a Lark's. Round the edge of 

 two or three nests, on the Trincomalie esplanade, were little circles of small pieces of brick and tile, which 

 must have been carried some distance, as there were none close by. Were these efforts of instinct as 

 regards protection, or were they the result of a desire for ornamentation ? Two is the normal number of 

 eggs : they vary somewhat in shape, some being stumpy ovals and others slightly pointed at the small 

 end ; the ground-colour is greenish white or whitish, freckled all over with minute spots of yellowish 

 brown, olive-brown, and slaty grey, with some larger markings of the same, forming a zone at the obtuse 

 end, or they are sparingly spotted with larger markings of yellowish brown and bluish grey over minute specks 

 of brown. They measure from 0'71 to 0'8 inch in length, and from 0"52 to 0'55 in breadth. 



Mr. Adam writes of a nest which he found built in the low retaining wall of a salt-pan in the Sambhur 

 Lake being encircled by " a belt, about 5 inches broad, of small flakes of a saline incrustation about 

 one-tenth of an inch in thickness ; the pieces varied much in size, but the largest were about an inch long by 

 half an inch broad." This nest was composed of coarse pieces of grass worked carelessly together, and here 

 and there were pieces of cloth. Mr. Cripps remarks : — " I once found its nest in the dry bed of a river in front: 

 of my house ; it was on the 26th April, 1878. The nest was a tiny cup-shaped affair of fine grass-roots, 

 which were firmly held together by damp sand, so much so that on taking it up it appeared like a ball cut 

 in two ; it contained two fresh eggs. There was not even a small tuft of grass anywhere where the nest was, 

 only some tamarisk-shoots above and shading it." 



Mr. Anderson once found the nest in the centre of a lump of cowdung, all over which white ants had 

 left their marks, so that detection was almost impossible. But singular as are the situations so frequently 



