6o THE SHORE-LARK. 



at the present day. The species which visits 

 the British Islands is a bird of the Arctic Circle 

 in summer, breeding on the " tundras " above the 

 forest growth in both the Eastern and Western 

 Hemispheres. Hence it is one of those species 

 known as circum-polar, and like the Snow Bun- 

 ting, and the Snowy Owl, the Shore-Larks 

 wander south in winter. They are a regular 

 visitor in late autumn to the island of Heligo- 

 land, and have occurred in most of the countries 

 of Europe at the same season of th^ year. 



The allied species, however, are mostly sta- 

 tionary, and migrate in a much less degree than 

 the common species, 0. alpestris. In North 

 Africa there is a resident species, 0. bilopha, in 

 the Sahara, which extends eastwards to Arabia. 

 In South-eastern Europe we find 0. penicillata, 

 which visits Bosnia and Southern Russia, and 

 extends through Persia to Afghanistan and the 

 country round Gilgit, in the Western Himalaya. 

 A second race, 0. bicornis, replaces this Horned 

 Lark in Palestine and Syria; and a third race, 

 0. pallida, occurs in Yarkand and Turkestan. 



In the Himalaya Mountains and in the Tian 

 Shan and Altai ranges as far as Northern China, 



