347 



many specimens. De Filippi records it as being found there in all the desert country ; and 

 Messrs. Dickson and Ross (P. Z. S. 1839, p. 119) speak of it as seen at Erzeroom " in large flocks. 

 Only noticed from 21st of April to 28th of May. Frequents fields and the hills." According to 

 Dr. Jerdon the Short-toed Lark is " found throughout India, more rare to the extreme south ; 

 and it has not been observed in Ceylon, but is numerous in the Deccan, and thence northwards 

 to the foot of the Himalayas, but not in the countries to the eastward." Major Irby also speaks 

 of it as exceedingly numerous in Oudh and Kumaon. 



It does not appear to occur in China, being there replaced by C. pispoletta, which is referred 

 to by Mr. Swinhoe (Ibis, 1861, p. 255) under the name of Alauda brachydactyla. Nor does it 

 appear to occur in Siberia, so far as I am able to ascertain, though in a letter just received from 

 Mr. Taczanowski it is spoken of as " uncommon in the Daurian steppes ;" but he doubtless refers 

 to C. pispoletta, and not to the present species. I have only on one or two occasions had an 

 opportunity of seeing the present species in a wild state, and cannot say much respecting its 

 habits from my own experience. It appears to resemble the Calandra far more than any other 

 species of Lark in its habits, frequents open places, generally dry and arid plains, and is essentially 

 a ground-Lark. Mr. Saunders states that " in Spain it is abundant in the plains, where it makes 

 its nest at the side of a small tuft or bush ;" and Dr. Jerdon writes that it " appears in India in 

 October and November in flocks, frequenting the bare grass downs, frequently damp spots near 

 tanks, also grain-fields and ploughed land ; and it almost always retires to corn-fields or grass for 

 shelter during the heat of the day, whence it does not in general issue again till next morning ; 

 for they are seldom seen flying about or feeding in the afternoon or evening. It feeds almost 

 entirely on seeds, both runs and hops on the ground, and has a call-note like that of the real 

 Larks. Towards the end of March in the south, April in the north of India, different flocks 

 often unite in vast troops containing many thousand birds and quite darkening the air; so close 

 do they keep together, even when flying. Great numbers are netted in some parts of the country, 

 or taken by bird-lime, or shot ; for when feeding they keep close to each other. On one occasion, 

 on the cavalry parade-ground at Kamptee, I bagged twelve dozen birds after discharging both 

 barrels ; and many wounded birds escaped. They get quite fat about this time, and are really 

 very excellent eating, and they are always called Ortolan by Europeans in India. They leave the 

 north of India about the end of April or beginning of May ; and they breed in the steppes of 

 Central Asia, Eastern Russia, and also in Northern Africa, placing their nest on the ground at 

 the edge of a scrub or bush, and laying four to six eggs, usually marked with grey or rufous 

 spots, but sometimes, it is said, unspotted yellow-brown." Mr. Osbert Salvin, who found it 

 breeding in the Eastern Atlas, writes also (Ibis, 1859, p. 315) that, like the rest of its congeners, 

 it " places its nest on the sheltered side of a bush, the scrubby vegetation which clothes the 

 whole of that arid district affording the necessary protection for its offspring. The eggs of 

 this species vary much; even in the same nest hardly two similar ones are to be found. So 

 different were some of the varieties, that the greatest care was necessary in identifying their true 

 parentage." 



Its song is said to be sweet and clear, and even more melodious than that of the Sky-Lark ; 

 but it does not rise so high in the air, when singing, as that bird. Dr. Carl Bolle (Cab. Journ. 

 1857, p. 290) states that " in the spring the males chase each other in the air, uttering broken 



