ALAUDIDA. 253 
THE CRESTED LARK. 
ALAUDA CRISTATA, Linnzus. 
The Crested Lark is a tolerably common bird just across the 
Channel, for instance at Boulogne, Wimereux and Cape Gris Nez 
(J. H. Gurney), yet authenticated specimens have seldom been 
obtained, even in the south of England. The late Mr. Bond had 
an example obtained at Littlehampton, Sussex, previous to 1845, 
and another was taken alive near Shoreham on October 2oth 1863 ; 
while in Cornwall, at intervals, four have been killed in autumn and 
winter, and one on June 12th 1880. The late Capt. Hadfield’s 
assertion that one was captured in the Isle of Wight, as well as state- 
ments that a bird had been taken from the nest near Cambridge and 
that the species had bred near Dover, lack the requisite confirmation. 
There are no authentic records from Scotland. In Ireland, a Crested 
Lark appears to have been shot in co. Dublin prior to February 
1836, by Sir W. H. Russell, the celebrated war-correspondent. 
The Crested Lark flourishes best in warm countries, but it can 
bear cold well, though snow interferes with its means of subsistence, 
and it is resident in small numbers as far as 60° N. lat. in Sweden 
and Russia. In Denmark, Northern Germany, Holland and Bel- 
gium, it becomes more frequent ; in the north of France it is fairly 
common ; while in Central and Southern Eurore it is abundant, 
