30 
British Birds. 
hind-claw, moreover, is long and straight. The resident Sky- Lark of the British 
Islands is a rufous bird, and the birds which visit us on migration, often called 
‘Northern Larks,’ or ‘ Scotch Larks,’ are decidedly larger than our ordinary Sky- 
Lark, and are darker and greyer in colour. In all the members of this family it must 
be borne in mind that the females are, as a rule, smaller than the males. 
Our Sky-Lark inhabits the greater part of Europe and breeds even beyond the 
Arctic Circle. Several races, more or less recognisable from our own bird, represent 
the true Alanda nrvensis in Southern Europe and in temperate Asia, and though it 
is quite certain that two forms are found in Great Britain, their constant inter- 
breeding renders it very difficult to separate them. Like our Starlings, which 
undoubtedly intermarry with the migrants from the Continent, the large Northern 
Larks also find British mates, and it becomes more and more difficult every year to 
distinguish our rufous resident form from the winter visitor which overruns all 
Great Britain. That our Sky- Lark is a migrant in vast hordes can be proved by 
anyone who visits the Island of Heligoland in autumn, when, on a favourable night, 
the quantity of Larks which fly over the little sea-girt rock is almost incredible. 
Gatke speaks of 15,000 Larks having been captured in a single night on Heligoland 
and estimates that this only represented the capture of one individual in every 10,000 
which passed over the island. The nest of the Sky- Lark is built on the ground, and 
is a simple structure of grass, but is generally well concealed. The eggs are from 
three to five in number, and are so thickly speckled with brown that the greenish 
white ground colour is obscured, the brown spots being mingled with the underlying 
grey ones. Very frequently the dark spots are congregated at the larger end of the 
egg, and often form a ring. 
The Short-Toed Lark (Calandrella brachy- 
dactyla). This is a diminutive Sky-Lark in 
appearance, and has the first primary-quill rudi- 
mentary ; it may, however, be easily recognised 
by its curved hind-claw. Unlike the Sky-Larks, 
in the genus Calandrella the sexes do not differ 
much in size. The Short-toed Lark is a bird of 
Southern Europe, and is only of accidental 
occurrence in Central Europe and Great Britain, The Short-Toed Lark. 
where it has occurred on some eight occasions. 
It is of a tame disposition, and is entirely a ground-loving species, and an inhabitant 
of sand}' districts. In habits and nesting it much resembles the Sky-Lark, but the 
song is not so vigorous as in the last-named species, though it also mounts into the 
air to sing. In winter, the Short-toed Larks congregate in large flocks, The nest 
is placed on the ground, and is made of dry grass, with a lining of vegetable down 
and fine hair. The eggs are four or five in number, the ground colour being whitish, 
but in some instances obscured by a mass of tiny brown dots, while in others the 
