SnORT-TOED LARK.
Alauda brachydactyla, GOULD.
Alauda—A Lark. Brachydactyla. Brachus—Short. Dactylos—A finger.
I SHOULD be glad if the proverb that 'least said is soonest mended*
applied to the- case of a bird of whose Natural History one knows
hut little.: but small as the present amount of my information about
the Short-toed Lark is, 1 have no immediate prospect of increasing it.
This Bpecies is common in the southern parts of Europe—in Sicily,
France, and Spain; and is also found in Germany, ft occurs in fact
along all the shores of the Mediterranean, both in Europe, Africa,
and Asia.
One was caught in a net near Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, on the
25th. of October, 1841. Another was shot at Scilly, in Cornwall, on
the 83rd. of September, 18-54.
The food of this bird consists of insects and seeds.
The nest is placed on the ground.
The eggs are four or five in number, and of a dull yellow colour.
Male; length, five inches and three quarters; bill, light brown.
There is a yellowish white streak over the eye. Head on the crown,
neck on the back, and nape, yellowish brown, with the centre of each
feather darker than the rest; chin, throat, and breast, white, the latter
tinged on the middle and the sides with yellowish brown; back,
yellowish brown, the centre of each feather being darker than the
edges. The second quill feather is the longest, the first and third a
little shorter; primaries and secondaries, dusky brown. The tcrtiarics
extend as far as the end of the closed wing. Tail, duskv brown, the
two outer feathers white nn their outer edge. Legs, toes, and claws,
which are short, light brown.