283 



Genus GALERITA. 



Alauda apud Linngeus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 288 (1766). 



Galerida, Boie, Isis, 1828, p. 321. 



Lullula apud Kaup, Natiirl. Syst. p. 92 (1829). 



Heterops apud Hodgson in Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 84 (1844). 



Certhilauda apud Blyth, J. A. S. Beng. xiii. p. 962 (1844). 



Galerita, Cabanis (ex Boie), Mus. Hein. i. p. 125 (1850-51). 



Megalophonus apud Loche, Hist. Nat. Ois. d'Alg. ii. p. 41 (1867). 



The Crested Larks approach those belonging to the genus Certhilauda in form of bill, but differ 

 in habits both from them and to almost a greater degree from the other Larks. They are found 

 • in the Palsearctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental Regions, three species occurring as residents in the 

 Western Palaearctic Region. They inhabit open country, both cultivated and wild, are, as a 

 rule, bold and confiding ; and one species, Galerita cristata, may frequently be seen on roads and 

 in villages as tame as a Sparrow. They are less gregarious than the true Larks ; and their flight 

 is heavier than that of the Sky-Lark. They run with great celerity, but seldom perch in trees, 

 though they may be seen seated on fences by the road-side. They are tolerably good songsters, 

 having a soft pleasing note, which they utter either in the air or when perched on some elevation. 

 They feed on insects, seeds, worms, &c, which they pick up from the ground. They build a cup- 

 shaped nest of grass-bents, which they place on the ground, and deposit several dull white eggs 

 spotted and blotched with purplish grey and brown. 



Galerita cristata, the type of the genus, has the bill slightly elongated, moderately strong, 

 the upper ^mandible extending somewhat beyond the lower one ; nostrils basal, concealed by 

 recurved feathers ; wings moderately long, broad, the first quill shorter than the coverts, the 

 second shorter than the fifth, the third, fourth, and fifth nearly equal and longest ; tail moderate, 

 slightly emarginate ; legs stout, rather long, the tarsus covered in front with six large and three 

 inferior scutellse, and posteriorly scutellate ; claws short, curved, except the hind claw, which is 

 very long and slightly curved ; plumage close, crown conspicuously crested. 



65 



