230 



recorded (Ibis, 1889, p. 90) under the name of A. guttata, and Dr. Raddealso obtained specimens 

 from Askabad, Tachtabasar, and Sulfigar. 



Mr. Zarudny (Rech. Zool. dans la Contree Transcasp. p. 88) records it as very rare in the 

 Ahal-Teke oasis, but very common in those of Merv and Pinde, though it was scarcely met with 

 along the central portion of the Murghab, and it certainly breeds in Transcaspia, as he saw the 

 young just able to leave the nest on the 18th of June. Sir O. St. John and Col. Swinhoe 

 obtained this Lark at Kandahar, Severtzoff in Turkestan, Russoff in Tschinas, and he found it 

 breeding at Saamin, and according to Mr. Oates (Faun. Brit. Ind., Birds, ii. p. 326) it occurs in 

 " every portion of the Indian Empire and Ceylon except Tenasserim, south of Moulmein, and the 

 middle ranges of the Himalayas, where it is absent or comparatively rare." He also states 

 (B. Brit. Burm. i. p. 374) that it is "very abundant in Southern Pegu, between the Pegu and the 

 Sittang rivers as far north as the latitude of Shwaygheen. Dr. Armstrong states that it is spread 

 over the whole Irrawaddy delta, and Mr. Davison observed it in the plains between the Sittang 

 and the Salween rivers and in the immediate neighbourhood of Moulmein. It is apparently 

 absent in the Irrawaddy valley from the head of the Delta up to the frontier. 



" It occurs in Siam and Cochin China, and under various names is found throughout China 

 and Eastern Siberia." Abbe David records it from Szechuan in China, Mr. Swinhoe from Hainan, 

 Formosa, and the Pescadores, and Lord Tweeddale from the island of Bohol in the Philippines. 



In habits and song the present species appears to assimilate closely with Alauda arvensis. 

 Mr. Oates states (I. c.) that it " chiefly frequents cultivated lands, but is also found in those 

 portions of the plains which are covered with wild paddy and short elephant grass. It is, I 

 believe, a constant resident (in Burma). It soars very high, and sings quite as well as the 

 English Sky-Lark. It is in song from October, or even earlier, up to March or April." 



Mr. Hume (Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, 2nd ed. ii. p. 221) gives a very detailed account 

 of the nest and eggs of this species, from which I gather that in its mode of nidification it much 

 resembles our European Sky-Lark. He describes the nest as being always placed on the ground 

 in a shallow depression, usually, he believed, scratched by the birds themselves under the shelter 

 of some clod of earth, large stone, tuft of grass or other herbage, or a dense stunted bush. It 

 consists merely of a deeper or shallower cup or saucer of fine grass — in many cases a mere 

 lining to the hole or depression, in others a regular nest, the interior always being composed of 

 the finest grass. Sometimes a few horsehairs are intermixed with the fine grass used for lining 

 the nest. In some parts of India they breed twice in the year, sometimes as early as February 

 and continuing till May, then again from August to October or even later. 



Three appears to be the normal number of eggs, and five the maximum. The eggs, Mr. Hume 

 says, " vary from moderately elongated to moderately broad ovals, at times a good deal pointed 

 towards the small end, and fairly glossy. The ground-colour in some is greyish, in others 

 yellowish white, and all are densely speckled, spotted, freckled, and even blotched with pale 

 yellowish and purplish brown or very pale inky purple. In length they vary from - 74 to 

 0-88 inch, and in breadth from 0'56 to 0-66, but the average is 08x0-61." 



In the synonymy of the present species I have omitted Alauda australis, Brooks, Str. Feath. 

 1873, p. 484 (which Dr. Sharpe includes), as Mr. Brooks states (Ibis, 1892, p. 61) that this form 



