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y ‘ks 1 This’? for 1865, ‘a very remarkable fact—far
nee from that country is, as Mr. Newton remarks in the Ibis :

es \ t ts - © rf side of the
iCas ave i S ypearance on th nor h 1
aon ee es fe é ; ' f 1 S y ss l is 18 the Lark of the Mediterranean, as ar as ny
be ween Calais and Boulogne.” Lieu Je Sperling Says, t MS 1 y f

experience goes. It frequents the dry plains ; and from the stunted plants and bushes, ie n oa ae
xX rience 2 : ‘ . ‘ T eer 2 aT 1 @ Soe
ae of Be ee aicn is constantly to be heard; yet Mr. Wright, who had oe a i Ms an
of the Birds observed in Malta and Gozo » (« This,’ 1864, p. 60), remarks subsequently (‘ Ibis, eile );

i ing; for < avours to find it during ma
“J should have given Schembri as my authority for so doing; for all my endeavours to g ny
E F oo . x r oN -
Year after year I have examined hundreds of Skylarks brought

a Crested Lark amongst them, but invariably with a negative
it is common in spring and autumn; but he

abse Straits of Dover, while it is so plentiful

years’ observation have proved unavailing.
for sale to the market, in the hope of detecting

Another writer on the natural history of Malta says
hom I have shown preserved skins, and offered rewards

declaring that they have never met with it.

result.
must have been mistaken. The bird-dealers, to w
should they bring me a Crested Lark captured here, all agree TB thi
From Ancol conclude it is not a regular migrant across the Mediterranean ; for, abundantly spread as it is,

both on the southern shores of Europe and the northern shores of Africa, we should often observe it in

Bailly remarks that it is always rare in Savoy.
conomy somewhat resemble those of the common Skylark, but in dis-
I have myself seen it, not only on the road-

Malta were its habits migratory.”

Its habits, actions, and general e
position it is even more tame and confiding than that species.
sides of many parts of the continent, but in the gardens and even at the doorsteps of the houses. Its note
is loud and cheerful, but not so swelling and continued as that of our charming Skylark. Both sexes have
the crest ; still the female has not this character so plainly developed as the male, neither is she 80 large in
size. A striking difference exists between the present bird and the A/auda arvensis, the colouring of the
under surface of the wings of the former being richer and having a vinous gloss, as shown in the accom-
panying Plate. Of its nidification I have no information to offer from my own observation. Vieillot states
that the female makes a nest on the ground in cultivated fields, very like that of the Skylark, and lays four
or five eggs, of a light ash-colour, spotted with light and dark brown.

Crown of the head and all the upper surface reddish brown with dark-brown centres, a few of the feathers
of the head elongated, forming a backward-pointing crest ; wing-coverts and wings brown, washed on their
outer webs with light brown, and with dark-brown shafts—the former tipped with buffy white ; two central
tail-feathers nearly uniform light brown; the two lateral feathers on each side dark brown, the outer one
broadly, and the next narrowly edged on the external margin with fawn-colour ; the remaining tail-feathers
dark brown; from the eye, passing over the ear-coverts, a streak of buffy white; ear-coverts dark brown ;
chin white; neck, breast, and under surface pale yellow brown, the breast and flanks streaked with dark
brown ; the bill, which is thicker, stronger, and more curved than that of the Skylark, is brown, becoming
paler at the base; legs, toes, and claws pale brown ; irides hazel.

The Plate represents the two sexes, of the natural size.