THE LARKS. 
85 
Range in Great Britain.— Universally distributed, and resident 
everywhere except in the more northern portions, which it 
quits during the winter. A large migration of Larks takes 
place into England during the autumn. 
Ran°-e outside the British Islands. — Generally distributed through- 
out Europe, where the form is identical with the general run 
of specimens from Great Britain ; breeding as far as the Arctic 
circle or a little beyond; but only known as a winter visitant 
in the Mediterranean countries, where a paler and lighter iorm, 
generally called A. canfarel/a, takes the place of the true 
Alauda arvensis. This pale form extends to Central Asia and 
North-western India, while a more rufous race, known as Alauda 
liopus, inhabits the Himalayas, and extends to China and Japan. 
These races of Sky-Larks are scarcely worthy of separation from 
our British birds. 
Habits. — These are almost too well known to need desciip- 
tion as the Sky-Lark is a general favourite with everyone, but 
especially when its bright song is heard in the spring and 
during the nesting season, when it soars into the air and sings 
at such a height as to be often almost invisible. In winter, 
when the home-bred birds are reinforced by a vast invasion of 
migratory Sky-Larks, they distribute themselves over the 
stubble-fields, and as they devour a great number of seeds of 
noxious weeds they doubtless render good service to the 
farmer, but they also pick out a considerable number of grains 
of newly-sown corn. 
Nest.— Placed on the ground, generally on a level with the 
surface, a cup-shaped depression being scratched out by the 
bird for its reception. It is nearly always well concealed, and 
sometimes hidden under grass or a tuft of herbage. 1 he nest 
itself is made of dry grass, lined with fine roots and grasses, 
with a little hair occasionally. 
Eggs. — -Three to five in number. Ground-colour greyish- 
brown or brownish-white, more rarely greenish-white, the eggs 
generally thickly clouded with brown and grey, the latter being 
the underlying colour, the brown overlying markings occurring in 
the ft rm of spots and blotches, the larger end of the egg being 
generally uniform, and the dark colour forming a ring. Axis, 
0-9-1 'o inch ; diam., 0-6-07. 
