672 Staff-Surgeon K. H. Jones on Birds 
The first clutches of eggs have been taken about the 
middle of April, and as fresh eggs are still obtainable until 
the middle of June, there is little doubt that this species is 
double-brooded in Shantung. The usual clutch is four, 
rarely there are five, but not infrequently three. 
The young have blackish down and an orange gape. 
Mr. Dresser states, in the f Manual of Palgearctic Birds/ 
that the song of this species is said to be of a high order. 
An indifferent and feeble imitation of that of the Skylark 
would perhaps better describe it. 
This bird does not often soar, and still more rarely sings 
when so doing. Usually Pallas's Desert-Lark sings when 
upon the ground, and in the breeding-season the male may 
be seen running rapidly up and down and round about its 
mate, with wings and tail outstretched, and the feathers on 
the nape elevated, singing furiously. 
The earliest date on which eggs were taken is April 15th 
and the latest June 17th. 
The average of seventy-three eggs is '77 x *59 inch, and they 
vary from *85 to *70 in length and from *62 to ‘54 in width. 
The eggs have been elsewhere described, but it may not 
be out of place to remark that they vary greatly in ap¬ 
pearance, even in the same clutch. The majority are of a 
greenish-white ground-colour, generally profusely spotted 
and speckled with markings of brownish or yellowish, so 
that some bear a certain resemblance to those of the Sedge- 
Warbler. 
In shape most eggs are blunt ovals. Specimens shewing 
a zone of markings at the junction of the middle and upper 
thirds are fairly common, but those with bold markings at 
considerable intervals are rare. 
Sturnus poltorat skyt. 
A Starling, which appears to belong to this subspecies, 
occurred in small numbers at Wei Hai Wei. 
Pica rustica. 
Magpies occur plentifully in and about Wei Hai Wei, as 
indeed they do almost everywhere in China. In the summer 
