[Illustration: THE ALPINE LARK (_Phileremos alpestris_).] The name of the Alpine Lark is derived, not from the Swiss Alps, but from the mountains of Siberia, and the rest of Northern Europe, where, at the present day, it is met with in large numbers, though until within the last fifty years it was considered to be one of the rarest birds in our continent. According to our own observations, this species is not found at a greater elevation than 400 or 500 feet above the level of the sea. In Lapland it lives near the coast. These Larks quit the more northern countries at the end of October, and return about April, when they at once commence preparations for their young. The nest is most carefully constructed, and neatly lined with fine blades of grass, cotton wool, and other delicate materials, a slight hollow being prepared in the ground for its reception; in this the little cradle is so well concealed as to be only discoverable by a practised eye. The brood consists of from four to five eggs, of about the same size as those of the common Field Lark; they are usually yellow, and covered with very fine markings of a deeper shade, which take the form of a wreath around the broadest end; varieties are, however, occasionally found exhibiting grey streaks, or brown hair-like lines. In its habits this species closely resembles the Field Lark; indeed, the movements of the two are so exactly similar as to render it almost impossible to distinguish between them, either when on the ground or in the air: the Alpine Lark, however, sings either when perched or sitting upon a stone, and not, like its more southern representative the Field Lark, only when soaring in the air. It subsists chiefly upon seeds and insects, feeding its young principally upon the gnats and larvæ abounding in its favourite resorts. * * * * * The LARKS PROPER (_Alauda_) are distinguished from the birds just described by their more slender beaks, short wings, and simple plumage, but closely resemble them in other particulars. THE TUFTED LARK.