rerica, but from the northern portion of the European continent,
’

Some ornithologists (Dr. Cabanis of Berlin among others)
birds of this form are distinct ; but the difference

visited this island have not come from An
where the bird breeds in tolerable abundance.
go so far as to state that the European and American

between them is so slight that they must probably be regarded a
t go still further in subdivision

1 ; é oats and are other

5 i » Altai, although the have yellow throa :

specimens from ae : : io rather longer bills. The English, Heligoland, Swedish,
5 5

ean and the North-American birds in havir
ee vhich Linnzeus gave the specific name of alpestris,

1 1 iS es fo v

Norwegian, and Lapland bird 1S, doubtl SS, the one z :
and of course is that represented with its young on the opposite Plate, from examples obtained by the
’ ’

late Mr. Wheelwright at Quickiock. The North-American bird merely differs in being a trifle larger,
. S C e s

having a somewhat larger bill; the Altaian, on the ee hand, is the
These remarks are not made without an abun-

s mere races of one and the same species.
than we have hitherto done; for the

ar m, we mus ee
fo wise similarly coloured, differ from

more rufous in colour, and in

smallest of the three, but has a more lengthened bill. cael cane
; sae aa rj e acquainted with the whole o
dance of materials for examination and comparison, nor without my being acqué

the described species of the genus, specimens of all of which are now before me. Here it may be desirable
to state over what parts of the globe these birds are found. In the Old ome some ee of the genus
are distributed over most parts of Eastern Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor, Persia, Nigsient India,
Thibet, China, and the Amurland ; while in the New World two or three species, as the case
om the United States, through Mexico and Central America, to the high lands of New
Granada. I may perhaps be excused for not giving a more detailed list of the Species, as much Cor
exists with regard to their nomenclature, and to define them correctly would require a more careful scrutiny

Afghanistan,
may be, are found fr

than is necessary in a work on the birds of Great Britain.

“The Shore-Lark,” says Mr. Wheelwright, “is the common fell-Lark, and appeared to be more
numerous around Quickiock this year (1863) than usual. On the 28th of April I shot the first specimen,
close to the house; and after that small flocks kept dropping in for about three weeks, when they all left
and went up to the fells to breed. When in the lowlands, they kept in small flocks on the bare patches of
cultivated land which the snow had left by the river-side. They were not atall shy, but very restless, sweeping
just over the surface of the ground, uttering their feeble single call-note, never flying far, and soon
pitching again. That they arrived in considerable numbers may be inferred from the fact that in about
three weeks I obtained more than fifty specimens, all of which, with a single exception, were males. By
all the Swedish naturalists the Shore-Lark is considered to be very rare in Sweden; but I think it must
have been overlooked. I consider the Swedish appellation of ‘berg larka’ or Rock-Lark much more ap-
propriate than our British name of Shore-Lark. The colours of this bird appear to be much brighter and
richer in the spring than at any other season. There is then but little difference between the male and
female externally; but one of the latter sex, which I shot on the 2nd of July, had a very pale yellow
forehead, the horns scarcely perceptible, the top of the head and the forehead only speckled with black, a
little darkish on the forehead, throat very faint yellow, the black gorget on the breast small and not
nearly so dark as in the male. In the female, which I shot on the 28th of April, the ovaries were small,
but very distinct. Her colours were much brighter than in summer ; and she closely resembled the male, save
that the yellow was not so brilliant, although the black was nearly as deep. Ihave observed that twenty-
four hours after death the yellow begins to fade, and that in the spring there is always a faint musky odour
about these birds. Sommerfeldt describes the nest and eggs thus :—‘ They breed as well close to the sea
as further imland—not always among grass and moss, but in gravel and among the dead leaves which have
fallen from the birch bushes. The nest is built of grass, and I never saw any feathers in it. Their three
to five eggs are in general yellow, or yellowish grey, with greyish blue and brown spots, often crowded at
the large end. You find them breeding early in May, and also in July. ”

pone late Mr. Boney informed Mr. Hewitson that he “found the Shore-Lark very common in Kast
ee ees alae Ae ae ae a also, but less numerously, on the hills. It was very
house where I was Eenint a8dn after te ; dl ; a F ees a bel ae fe a ce
were placed like eliasevor the common Lark a by i ae has aes Mee On te
they are found to be of a loose Efticcuve! and = al i ae a eee Ha ae

a generally lined with the down from the willow or other

: : : : de
Hee ne bird Sey on the high lands in the interior of the north of Lapland. In the autumn, flocks of
it are to be seen in the corn-fields, like common Larks ; 1

on Larks in other countries ir way s ‘ours
aa , on their way south along the course

ry BE =
Phe figures are of the natural size.