A NATURALIST'S JOURNAL IN HOLLAND AND BELGIUM. 325 



to think that these doubtful cases should be consigned to oblivion. 

 The Crested Lark is such a very distinct and well-marked bird 

 that no one who knew both species well would have the slightest 

 chance of confusing it with the Sky Lark, or of mistaking the one 

 for the other. Again, no one who really saw a Crested Lark for 

 the first time ought to have the least doubt that he had seen a 

 bird new to him, or have any difficulty in convincing others, by 

 his description of the bird, of its identity. Apart from its long 

 drooping crest of quite a different shape and character to the Sky 

 Lark's, the Crested Lark, in all its forms, is of a different colour 

 to the Sky Lark ; it is a broad-chested, massive bird, with a very 

 big head, and (except in a pale southern form) a strong beak, a 

 short tail (in which there is no white), and a shape altogether 

 different. Its flight is different; it looks heavy on the wing, and 

 has the appearance of having the bend of its wings higher than 

 its body, which seems to hang between the wings curiously ; this 

 gives the bird a clumsy, awkward appearance, not lessened by its 

 conspicuous head and beak. All this contrasts with the appearance 

 of the elegantly-shaped Sky Lark. I am afraid I have not made 

 my meaning very clear ; it is difficult to do so ; but I think that 

 any one who knows the Crested Lark will follow me. Then, 

 again, the Crested Lark is fond of uttering its call-note ; it 

 invariably does so upon alighting after a short flight, and this 

 call- note is loud and quite peculiar. It is very sweet, and may 

 be written " kay-see-sweet-weet," or " sweet-a-weet" in some 

 cases. There were numbers of Peewits in the grass marshes or 

 "polders," also Black-headed Gulls and some Herons. We used 

 to have Teal for dinner. The King Dove and Stock Dove both 

 frequented the little park at Eotterdam, together with various 

 ordinary birds. White Wagtails I saw by the canals, sometimes 

 on the moored timber-rafts — e.g. between Delft and Rotterdam. 

 I noticed the Black Crow. At Dordrecht I saw a single Black 

 Redstart (Ruticilla titys) about the Groote Kirke. There is a 

 nice Diergaarde at Rotterdam, where they have a big open aviary 

 for pinioned fowl, containing Night Herons, Storks, Spoonbills, 

 Flamingoes, &c. Also another aviary with some good waders, 

 e.g. Reeves, Spotted Crakes, and Cayenne Lapwings (Vanellus 

 cayennensis). One night I could clearly hear the cries of these 

 noisy birds from my room in the hotel, which was a considerable 

 distance away, and was instantly carried back in imagination to 



