THE LARKS. 
79 
every country of Europe, though its visits rarely extend to 
those bordering the Mediterranean Sea. 
Habits. — These are described by Mr. Seebohm as resembling 
those of the Snow-Bunting. It is equally gregarious, and has 
a somewhat similar song, generally delivered while the bird is 
soaring in the air like a Lark. The female has nearly as loud 
a song as the male. 
Nest. — “ Almost always placed in some hole in the side of one 
of the little mounds or tussocks which abound on the marshy 
part of the tundra; it is composed of dry grass and roots, and 
profusely lined with feathers.” {Seebohm.) 
Eggs. — Four to six in number. Egg very dark brown in 
appearance, the ground-colour olive or stone-brown, often 
uniform, with purplish-brown spots or streaks, and occasionally 
a few lines. Great variation is shown in the depth of the 
ground-colour, and in the amount of markings on the egg. 
Axis, 075-0-95 inch ; diarn., 0-6-0-65. 
Note. — A specimen of Brandt’s Siberian -Bunting ( Emberiza dairies) 
has been obtained in Yorkshire. Two specimens of the White-throated 
Bunting ( Zonotrichia albicollis ) have been recorded, one from the neighbour- 
hood of Aberdeen, and another from Brighton ; while the Tainted Bunt- 
ing ( Cyanosphn ciris ) was noted in 1S02 as having been captured near Port- 
land. This individual, as Mr. Howard Saunders w r ell remarks, “ Montagu, 
with his accustomed good sense, naturally presumed to have escaped from 
confinement.” So many different kinds of foreign Finches are brought alive 
to England every year that it is devoutly to be hoped that in future the 
shooting of some of these aliens will not be deemed worthy of record in 
scientific journals, when it is so obvious that they must have been caged 
birds. 
THE LARKS. FAMILY ALAUDID/E. 
The Larks have been designated by Sundevall as ScuteUi- 
plantares , because the hinder aspect of the tarsus is divided 
into scales like the front aspect. In most Passerine birds the 
hinder portion of the tarsus is perfectly smooth, and not 
qivided into scales. By these characters a Lark and a Pipit 
can be easily distinguished, for although our English Tit-larks 
or Pipits have much of the appearance and habits of a Lark 
(the Meadow-Pipit even having a Lark-like hind claw), yet they 
can be immediately told by the undivided scaling of the back 
