7^ THE SPECIES. 



a dozen times as an unexpected straggler from the north. As in many other cases it is only 

 a British bird bv courtesy. 



The Kentish Plover — Dimensions, Eo ; Eg;gs, He — has an undoubted claim to be con- 

 sidered British, inasmuch as it was first described from a specimen taken at Sandwich, and 

 is found every summer all along the Kent and Sussex coasts. Its flight is rather ^slow, 

 notwithstanding the quick beating of its wings, and it starts and alights with a run of a few 

 yards, with its wings expanded. Its note is a sort of " pittwee " or *' ptwee." The female 

 is recognisable by her being brown where the male is black, the absence of black being 

 especially noticeable on the fore-crown. The nest is a mere hollow in the shingle ; the eggs 

 are four in number, though occasionally only three have been found. 



The Ringed Plover— Dimensions, Fn ; Eggs, Ir — is with us all the year round. Its flight 

 is low or high, made up of quick flappings and long glides, straight for a time, then wheeling, 

 and rolling leisurely from side to side so as to show first the back and then the underparts. 

 The note is a whistle, with '* penny-yet" as an alarm. The female has a much less 

 conspicuous collar. The nest is a mere hollow in the sand or shingle. The eggs are four in 

 number and very pointed in shape. 



The Killdeer Plover— Dimensions, Iq ; Eggs, Iq — is so called from its call of "killdeer." 

 It is an American species, of which two examples have been shot in these islands, and none 

 on the Continent of Europe. The female has much the same plumage as the male. 



AgelseuE. Plate ix. ICTERINyE (Passeridse). 



119. phosniceus, gin. Red-winged Starling. Glossy black ; lesser 



wing coverts red ; legs and bill glossy brownish 



black ; tail rounded, but with two rather short 



middle feathers. 



The Red-winged Starling — Dimensions, la; Eggs, Eh — is another rare visitor from across 



the Atlantic, probably shot on escape from confinement. The note, as pronounced with the 



American twang, is " kork-ker-ree." The female is unknown in this country. The nest is 



of the hanging purse-shape, characteristic of all the Icterinae. 



Alauda. Plate x. ALAUDIN^ {Vass&ria^&Y 



X2S- ^f'^'^^ydactyla, c^\m. Short -TOED Lark. Crown fawn; bill flesh 

 colour ; brown above, unspotted below. 



133. arborea, 6 in. Wood Lark. Broad white eye stripe ; throat and 



breast more streaked than spotted ; tail short, outer 

 feathers brown. 



134. cristata, 7 in. Crested Lark. Crest pointed ; outer tail feathers 



half buff. 

 132. arvensis. 7J in. Sky Lark. Faint yellowish eye stripe ; throat 

 • and breast more spotted than streaked ; outer tail 



feathers mostly white. 

 136. siHrica, y\ in. White-winged Lark. Secondaries white. 

 The Short-tailed Lark— Dimensions, 01 ; Eggs, Dt— is a rare visitor to the South of 

 England. Its flight is a jerky, undulating one ; its song is of the feeblest, and like its flight 

 is generally cut short by some enthusiastic gunner. There is only one record of one of these 

 birds being taken alive in this country, and that was at Amberley, in Sussex, in 1888. It 

 has never been known to breed here. 



The Wood Lark— Dimensions, Dq; Eggs, Ed — is one of our resident birds, and migrates 

 about the country. Its flight is not so high as that of the Sky Lark, and it soars in more of a 

 circle. ^Sometimes it sin§:s on the ground, sometimes on a tree, and often its melodious 

 ** lu-Iu " will be heard far into the night. The female is much the same in plumage as the 

 male, and like him, is of a deeper richer brown in the winter. The nest is rather a compact 

 one, of coarse grass outside and finer grass within, mixed with moss and lined with hair ; and 

 it is generally placed on the ground under a tuft of grass or low bush. The eggs are either 

 four or five in number. 



The Crested Lark— Dimensions, Fi; Eggs, Fg— is a rare visitor to our south coast. Its 

 flight is like that of the Wood Lark, and its note is a melodious "coo-hai." The female is 

 not so large as the male and somewhat darker. The nest has not been found in Britain. 



The Sky Lark— Dimensions, Ft ; Eggs, Es— is resident amongst us though reinforced in the 

 autumn by visitors from the Continent. Its flight is fluttering and gliding, rising in long 

 slopes,_ almost vertical at times, and soaring as the song is trilled forth. Sometimes the 

 lark will sing from a tree top, sometimes from a telegraph wire. The song has been syllabised 

 as " cherry do, cherry doj pretty joey, pretty joey, pretty joey, white hat, white hat, pretty 

 joey," and one ornithologist^ of Scottish parentage, has likened it to a bagpipe heard at a 

 distance — of course a considerable distance. Another Scotsman gives it as, " Up in the 

 lift go we, te-hee, te-hee, tt-hee, te-hee ! There's no' a cobbler on the airth can mak' a 



