258 WHITE-WINGED LARK. 
The nest, generally built early in May, is placed on the ground, 
sheltered under a tussock of grass, and the 3-5 eggs are yellowish- 
white, spotted and mottled with several shades of brown and violet- 
grey: measurements ‘95 by ‘65 in. In Russia the bird does not 
arrive until after the grass is green, and, according to Eversmann, 
prefers those portions of the steppes which are most clothed with 
herbage ; while Pallas, who:was the first to observe this species on 
the banks of the Irtish, describes it as frequenting the road-sides 
and uttering its song—similar to that of the Skylark but shorter— 
when hovering at a moderate height from the ground. During the 
cold season it is found in large flocks and is very tame. The food 
is probably similar to that of other Larks. 
The adult male has the top of the head and ear-coverts pale 
chestnut ; lores and eye-stripe dull white; back tawny-brown, with 
dark stripes down the centre of each feather; upper wing-coverts 
chestnut, the rest rufous-brown ; outer quills duli brown, the inner 
primaries and the secondaries chiefly white (exhibiting a large and 
conspicuous bar or patch); tail-coverts and central tail-feathers 
broadly edged with chestnut, the outer pair of tail-feathers white 
and the rest chiefly dark brown; under parts white, with brown and 
rufous spots on the throat, gorget and flanks; under wing-coverts 
white; bill horn-colour; legs yellowish-brown. Length 7 in.; 
wing 4°6in. The female is smaller (wing 4'2 in.), with hardly a 
tinge of rufous on her brown-streaked crown, and little on the 
wings, tail or breast. After the autumn moult the plumage is 
tinged with buff. The young resemble the female. The chestnut 
tint, white wing-patch, and white under-wing-coverts are sufficiently 
distinctive of this species. 
The White-winged, the Calandra, and other stout-billed Larks 
have been placed in several genera, the favourite one being Jelano- 
corypha; but that name is, at best, misleading, for the Calandra, 
which is the type, has ot a black crown, nor would it be easy to 
define the characters which distinguish that genus from Calandrella. 
Two examples of the Calandra Lark, Alauda caléindra, said to 
have been killed in England, have been recognized in the shops of 
bird-stuffers at Devonport and Exeter respectively ; but the evidence 
is not sufficient to warrant the introduction to the British list of 
a species which is very tolerant of confinement and one of the 
commonest cage-birds in Spain and Italy. 
