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Dr. von Middendorff states that he found large flocks of these Larks on the roads through 

 the Baraba steppe in February; and Dr. Eversmann has written the following account of its 

 distribution in Central Asia : — 



" Alauda tartarica does not extend its range far north, probably seldom above Indirsk, at 

 least not as soon as the breeding-season has commenced. I have once in March seen it singly 

 between Indersk and Uralsk, seeking food on the roads in the midst of swarms of other Larks. 

 In the winter it frequents the salt-steppes (with other Larks) where the snow does not lie, and 

 feeds on the seeds of the salt weeds. On my journey to Buchara I saw enormous flocks near the 

 river Kuwandshur and the lakes Alakul. Between the lower Volga and the Ural it is not 

 common." 



Herr F. W. Baedeker writes as follows : — " This bird comes on the Volga in January, and 

 wanders about, disappearing entirely for a few weeks, and then appears again in March, migrates 

 in flocks, but only remains for a short time. If there is no snow they remain on the high steppes, 

 and are then not seen here. When, however, there is a fall of snow they come on the roads, like 

 Alauda calandra, in search of food, and can easily be shot." 



Professor A. von Nordmann has published the accompanying notes regarding its appearance 

 in Southern Russia : — 



" Does not breed in our parts, but arrives in large flocks towards the autumn, sometimes 

 about the end of August in the Government of Ekaterinoslaw and the Crimea. I saw it on this 

 peninsula, in the rocky localities near the promontory of Parthenon, in the month of August 

 1837." Radde also has found it common near Cherson and Odessa. 



We are not aware on what authority Dr. Bree states that the present species has been 

 " captured rarely and accidentally in Germany." Naumann, it is true, records it as a European 

 bird on the strength of the occurrence of four or five examples near Brussels, in March 1850; 

 but Dr. Borggreve, in our opinion very properly, refuses the species a place among the birds of 

 Germany. The only authority for its occurrence in Western Europe is the statement of Dubois 

 that he procured one in the Brussels market, and knew of another captured alive by a M. Croegart, 

 near Antwerp. 



The eggs of this Lark are scarcely known ; and even those which are in the best collections 

 are hardly as well authenticated as they should be. In Dresser's collection is one egg received 

 by him from Dr. Baldamus, who wrote that it was taken on the steppes of the Volga by a good 

 collector; but it is scarcely so satisfactorily identified as we could wish. This egg somewhat 

 resembles that of a Calandra Lark, measures -§-§ by f % inch, and is very boldly marked. The 

 ground-colour is pure white, and the markings, which are distributed generally over the egg, 

 are of two sorts, viz. pale underlying shell-markings which are dull slaty brown, and overlying 

 surface-spots which are bright umber-brown. 



The description and measurements have been taken from an adult pair of birds in our own 

 collection. They are in the fullest summer plumage we have been able to procure, a perfectly 

 black male being unobtainable. The figures have been drawn from these birds, and the winter 

 plumages described from specimens in our own collection. 



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