20S 
Some Larks in My Aviaries, 
weeks later, she made another nest and laid three eggs, but this 
time the Button Quail interfered and broke the eggs, and no 
further attempt was made by any of the birds. They are rather 
interesting little fellows, about as big as our Siskin, and are 
not at all shy. When they want to sing they hover in the air- - 
a rather difficult feat in an aviary only 8ft. high. I have never 
heard them sing upon the ground, and unlike a pair of Indian 
Larks I once owned, they never perch upon a tree or branch to 
do so. The second pair of Finch Larks I put into an aviarv 
v.ith a whole lot of Buntings, Waxbills, and other small birds. 
'i"he cock, a very rich-coloured bird, spent a great deal of his 
time upon the branches, but the hen never perches. No 
attempt at nesting was made, although there was nothing in the 
aviary to interfere with them successfully, the cock being well 
rble to defend himself and partner from the occasional attacks 
of the Ijunting:,. The other cock I'inch I^ark, instead of having 
the crown of the head of the normal black colour, has it greyish 
white. This may be a sign of age, and I shall be interested to 
see how it moults out this autumn. An account of the breeding 
of these birds for the first time in England appeared in Bird 
N(JTE3 for 19:8. I believe that they have been bred two or three 
times since in other aviaries. 
Writing of the Rufous-naped Lark (Mirafra africaua). 
which I take it to be the same bird as T. cincrco. [Messrs. Wood- 
ward say in A'atal Birds : — 
" This is a common Lark; we have seen it from the Ifafa 
to the Black Umfolosi. It is a large, stoutly-made bird, seven 
inches long. Colour above, brown, the feathers edged with a 
hghier shade, those on the back of the head ledder; wings basal 
half, and edges rufous: rest, brown; under parts rufous, spotted 
on the breast with brown, the outer feathers edged with dull 
vv-hite. Mr. Ayres says that from the worn ai)pearance of 
their claws he thinks that they obtain their food by scraping 
the earth, and notices what we have often remarked 
that in their flight they make a peculiar noise with their 
wings. This bird usually confines itself to th.e open grass 
rnrclv alighting in trees. It is fond of taking short flights and 
hiding itself in the grass when approached, Native name 
' Vnongwatshi,' " 
