MIBAFBA. 159 



Genus MIRAPEA, Horsfield. 



■3. MIRAFEA HORSFIELDII, Gould. 



Horsefleld's Bush Lark. 



Gould, Handhk. Bds. Ausf.,Yo\. i., sp. 248, p. 404. 



" The nests of Mirafra horsfieldii are usually found during the 

 months of November, December, and often as late as January and 

 February. They are loose ragged structures, and not finished off 

 nicely like those of Anthus australis. They are cup-shaped, and 

 are composed ■wholly of grasses without any particular lining. The 

 situation chosen is a little hollow scraped out by the side of a tuft 

 of grass or straw, or behind a clod of earth ; the front edge of the 

 nest is alone smoothed down — the back part being left ragged and 

 often drawn forward as if to help to conceal the eggs. The nest 

 is about two inches and a-half in diameter by one inch in depth. 

 On the 4th of February 1861, we took a nest from a hay-field at 

 Macquarie Fields containing three eggs, which is the usual number. 

 They are in length from eight to ten lines by from six to seven in 

 breadth, and of a light earthy-brown, thickly marked over the 

 whole surface with freckles of a much darker hue. Some specimens 

 are darker in colour than others, and after a time the ground- 

 colour becomes of a more yellowish tint, and the markings much 

 duller and more indistinct." (Ramsay, P.Z.S., 1865, p. 689.) 



This is the only species of Australian bird of which I know, that 

 sings at night ; especially is it to be heard on bright moonlight 

 nights about mid-summer, flying slowly about high in the air, 

 apparently filled with pleasure and delight at the continued sweet 

 and varied notes at its command. 



Dimensions of eggs taken by me at Moonee Ponds on the 14th 

 of January 1882 are as follows : — length (A) 0"79 x 0*55 inch ; 

 (B) 0-78 X 0-59 inch ; (0) 078 x 0-5 inch. 



Hah. Derby, N.W. Australia, Gulf of Carpentaria, Rockingham 

 Bay, Port Denison, Wide Bay District, Dawson River, New South 

 Wales, Interior, Victoria and South Australia. {Ramsay.) 



