SHORT-TOED LARK. 277 



The nest appears always to be built upon the ground^ sometimes under a 

 clod of dry dung or earthy or frequently on the lee-side of a bush amongst 

 the herbage. It is usually made in a little cavity in the ground, either 

 scratched out by the bird itself, or the mark of a stone or footprint. It is 

 a simple little structure made of dry grass, rootlets, &c., very closely 

 resembling the nest of the Sky- Lark. One which I obtained on the sandy 

 steppes near Kustendji is made of short bits of grass, a feather or two, and 

 a large amount of vegetable down, lined with a few hairs. 



The eggs of the Short-toed Lark are four or five in number, sometimes 

 only three, creamy white in ground-colour, profusely mottled and speckled 

 with pale neutral brown, and with underlying markings of grey. Some 

 eggs are much more richly coloured than others. On some the ground- 

 colour is almost hidden by the profusion of spots ; whilst on others the 

 markings are fewer, although evenly distributed over the entire surface, 

 but occasionally they form a zone round the end. They vary from '87 to '69 

 inch in length, and from "62 to -55 inch in breadth. The eggs are much 

 smaller than those of the Sky-Lark, but otherwise bear considerable 

 resemblance to them, except that the general tone of colour is much 

 yellower. 



In winter the Short-toed Lark congregates into flocks. Jerdon writes 

 that in India it appears " in October and November in flocks, frequenting 

 the bare grass downs, frequently damp spots near tanks, also grain-fields 

 and ploughed land ; and it almost always retires to corn-fields or grass for 

 shelter during the heat of the day, whence it does not in general issue 

 again tiU next morning, for they are seldom seen flying about or feeding in 

 the afternoon or evening. It feeds almost entirely on seeds ; both runs 

 and hops on the ground, and has a call-note like that of the real Larks. 

 Towards the end of March in the south, April in the north of India, 

 difl'erent flocks often unite into vast troops containing many thousand 

 birds, and quite darkening the air, so close do they keep together, even 

 when flying. Great numbers are netted in some parts of the country, or 

 taken by bird-lime, or shot ; for when feeding they keep close to each other. 

 On one occasion, on the cavalry parade-ground at Kamptee, I bagged 

 twelve dozen birds after discharging both barrels, and many wounded 

 birds escaped. They get quite fat about this time, and are really very 

 excellent eating, and they are always called Ortolan by Europeans in India. 

 They leave the north of India about the end of April or beginning of 

 May." In Algeria Canon Tristram states that it congregates in flocks for 

 the winter, and frequents the neighbourhood of the oases on the northern 

 borders of the desert. 



The adult male Short-toed Lark in breeding-plumage has the general 

 colour of the upper parts pale sandy brown, the dark centres being very 



