260 SHORE-LARK. 
Black and Mediterranean Seas, though not recorded up to the 
present from the Spanish Peninsula; while eastward, it descends to 
Baikalia, Mongolia and Northern China. The area between Bosnia 
and the Altai Mountains is inhabited by a recognizable species, 
O. penicillata, in which the black on the ear-coverts joins the black 
on the throat ; while a paler Tibetan form has been distinguished as 
O. longirostris. In the desert region between Morocco and Arabia 
Petrzea there is a resident and well-marked tawny species, O. dz/opha. 
Our bird occurs in Greenland, and the eastern portions of Arctic 
America, but, according to American trinomialists, no fewer than 
eleven sub-species are distributed over the remainder of the Western 
Continent ; while O. sevegrina inhabits the high lands of Colombia. 
The nest, slightly made of grass and plant-stalks, with willow- 
down and reindeer-hair for a lining, is placed in some hollow of 
the ground, or among stones on a hillside. The eggs, 4-5 in 
number, are greenish-white, minutely freckled and often boldly 
zoned with olive-brown, and occasionally scrolled with black hair- 
lines: measurements ‘9 by *63 in. Breeding often begins in Nor- 
way and Lapland by the middle of May, and two broods are 
produced during the season. In autumn small flocks are formed, 
which rove about in search of food, principally seeds, though in 
summer beetles and other insects are eaten; the Shore-Lark is also 
partial to the small molluscs and crustaceans found on the sea- 
shore. It is a tame and confiding species, frequently entering the 
streets of towns and villages in the north of Europe, and up to the 
end of June it may be heard uttering its pleasant and rather mellow 
song from some post, rail or barn-top, or while hovering in the air. 
The adult male has the lores and cheeks black ; throat, forehead, 
and the eye-stripe enclosing the ear-coverts and joining the throat, 
yellowish-white ; across the front of the crown a black band, termi- 
nating in an erectile tuft of black feathers on each side of the 
head; nape and mantle pinkish-brown; wing-coverts tipped with 
white, quills brown; middle tail-feathers warm brown, the rest 
nearly black, with whitish margins to the outer pair; upper breast 
broadly banded with black; under parts dull white, with brown 
streaks on the flanks ; bill greyish-black ; legs black. Length 7 in. ; 
wing 4°3 in. The female is smaller (wing barely 4 in.), with less 
black on the head; the erectile tufts are wanting, and her general 
colour is duller. The young male resembles the female; the nest- 
ling is dark brown mottled with buff, but the black ear-patches are 
conspicuous. In the adults after the moult the feathers on the 
head are much tinged with yellow. 
