ANTHUS. Bech. Tem. Vieill.
Bill straight, slender, cylindrical, awl-shaped near the tip, edges inflected towards the middle ; base of the upper mandible ridged, point slightly notched ; nostrils basal, lateral, and half-closed by an arched membrane; the hind claw more or less bent, and generally longer than the hind toe, the third and fourth quills the longest.
Birds of this family were long united with the larks, on account of the length of their hind claw ; but their slender and notched beak approximates them to the warblers.
pratensis, Bech. Tem. .41auda pratensis, Lath. 41auda moNellana, Gmel. 4. sepiarius, Vicill. Pi/zit Lark. Tail feathers brown, the outer one half white, the se cond with a wedged-shaped spot, of the same colour, at the tip, and a double white line on the wings. Weight about five drachms and a half, and length six inches and a half. The bill is dusky ; the sides and base of the up per mandible are dull yellow, and the irides are hazel. The male sings flying, or perched on the twig of a bush, when he erects his body, half opens his bill, and unfolds his wings. His warble is simple, but sweet, harmonious, and clearly uttered. When raised, he pronounces, like his mate, the syllable pee, three or four times, succes sively, and alights at a short distance from the spot which he left. Al. Vieillot, who has watched the manners of this bird in Upper Normandy, where it abounds, could never perceive it perch on a tree, but occasionally on the top of a small bush, and that only for a short time; in the breed ing season, he never encountered it in the champaign country, but on hills covered with turf, and sprinkled with dwarf shrubs. He found the nest sometimes under a tuft of herbage, and sometimes at the foot of a low shrub, com posed of stalks of grass, moss, and hair, and containing four or five eggs, of a dull white, marked with irregular brown spots, most numerous at the broad end, and in the form of dots near the smaller.
A. arboreus, Bechs. Tern. .41auda pratensis, Lin. Alauda trivialis, Gruel. Tit Lark, Tecting of the Scots. Greenish-brown above, with the two outer tail feathers ex ternally white, and the eye-brows of the same colour. In
habits the whole of Europe, though more plentifully in some countries than in others. In many parts of this is land it is very common, and remains with us throughout the year, affecting barren situations, whether swampy or moorish, and placing its nest on the ground, among furze, or long grass, constructing it of bents, dry grass, and stalks of plants, and lining it with fine grass and horse hair. The eggs are generally five or six, but vary consi derably in size and marking, some being of a dark brown, others whitish, speckled with rufous brown, or of a paler brown, tinged with red. During the period of incuba tion, the male sits on an adjoining tree, and pours forth his short but pleasing song, which some rank next to that of the nightingale. It likewise sings on the ground, or in the air, increasing the loudness of its descant as it ap proaches the branch on which it is going to perch. In Scotland, it is almost the only bird that frequents the ex tensive heath-tracts in which it breeds. In winter these birds haunt the low grounds in search of worms and in sects, and fly in small troops; and, in the Orkneys, they resort to the sea-shores. In Italy, they fatten in the vine yards, and are included among the Beccaficos.
A. rufescens, Tern. A. campestris,-Bech. A. rufus, Via. A. campcsti is, Meyer. A. mosellana, Lath. Marsh Lark, or Trillov? Lark. Red, varied with brown above ; rufescent beneath ; the breast spotted with brown, and three brown stripes beneath the eyes. Length, six inches and a half. Native of France and other countries of the European continent, where it affects stony and sandy hil locks, or moorish and heathy grounds, in which it nestles, under a clod of turf, or sometimes beneath a bush ; but it neither frequents rivers nor marshes, as some of its sy nonymes would seem to intimate, and some of which have originated in Montbeillard having confounded it with the Anthus aguaticus of Vieillot, or Alauda campestris, A, of Lathan). The female lays from four to six eggs, of a pale bluish tint, on which are scattered small purple and brown-red lines and spots.