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the third feather ; the little stripes on the breast much less frequent, and the general appearance of the 

 under surface of the body much paler than in spring ; sides of the neck more white. 



Adult male in winter plumage. Plumage more glossy than at any other season of the year ; the whole of the 

 feathers of the upper surface broadly margined with greyish sandy colour, and all the characters of the 

 spring-dress above described very clearly indicated and thoroughly developed, so that all the markings 

 are very distinct. At this season of the year, the breast is strongly tinged with creamy buff. 



Nestling. Upper surface of the body covered with little blue-shafted plumelets, from which protrudes a 

 brown feather with a very distinct fulvous tip ; throat and crop quite bare ; breast-feathers also in a 

 rudimentary condition, white, and on the sides of the body small brown feathers growing in the direc- 

 tion of the flanks, which they are intended to cover ; on the head and lower back some long threads 

 of yellow down ; bill brown, yellow along the gape ; feet yellowish. In a few days the feathers become 

 developed, and the whole upper surface rather inclines to rufous, which is prettily relieved by little 

 white edgings to the feathers, which are most conspicuous on the hind part of the head. The white 

 eyebrow is distinctly indicated at a very early stage. Some nestlings are darker than others. 



On leaving the nest. Upper plumage sandy tinged with buff, the centre of the feathers dark brown with a 

 very broad edging of sandy colour, becoming white at the tip of the feather ; crown of the head a little 

 darker and more rufous ; lores, feathers in front of and round the eye, eyebrow, and sides of the neck 

 behind the ear-coverts buffy white ; ear-coverts sandy, slightly marked with brown ; wing-coverts and 

 quills sandy brown, with a broad margin of buff, before which is a narrow line of blackish, both inner 

 and outer webs being margined in this manner ; tail-feathers sandy brown with buff edgings, within 

 which is seen the same black line running parallel to the outer margin as on the wings ; outer tail- 

 feather all white, except the margin of the inner web; outer web of the penultimate white; under 

 surface of the body creamy buff, the upper breast prettily marked with longitudinal streaks of brown, 

 which colour occupies the centre of the feather, and is margined with buff on each side ; under wing- 

 coverts buffy white with a slight grey tinge. 



Obs. By the time that the second brood have left the nest and can fly, which takes place about the end of 

 July, the young of the first brood are in full moult and putting on their adult plumage. The quills and 

 tail-feathers are cast and renewed; and at this season of the year it is not uncommon to see Larks 

 without tails or scarcely able to fly for want of their strong pinions : the last feathers to be resumed are 

 the primary coverts ; and bird-catchers can tell at a glance, by an examination of these feathers, whether 

 they have caught an old or a young bird ; for in the latter the edges to these plumes are buff, and not 

 rufous like the rest of the margins to the wing-feathers. The young bird, when his plumage is com- 

 pleted, is more rufescent than at any other time of its life; but, in addition to this, it may nearly 

 always be told by the rounded feathers of the crest, which are always distinctly margined with rufous 

 or buff; the spots on the throat, too, are more numerous. 



Varieties. 



Perhaps no bird varies more than the Common Sky-Lark, and scarcely a week passes without 

 some lusus naturae in connexion with this bird being recorded. White, black, and party-coloured 

 specimens are not uncommon, the second more often happening to be birds kept in cages ; but 

 perhaps the best-known variety is the cream-coloured one, which is far from uncommon. Mr. 

 Mummery, of Margate, believed that the latter constituted a different species, and named it 

 A. isabellina, declaring that he could prove it to be distinct on anatomical grounds ; no one has 



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