Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS

THE SONG BIRDS

THE LARKS

(Family Alaudidce)
The first of the so-called”families”of singing birds happens to be very well founded, for it not only includes within its limits singers of a high order of musical ability, but it is rather sharply and clearly distinguishable from all the others, — a condition, it will be noted, which does not by any means obtain in even a majority of the remaining”families.”Although the Larks have at least a superficial resemblance to a number of other forms, especially the Pipits, being small, brownish and streaked, ground-haunting birds, they are known at once by the structure of the tarsi, which are blunt behind instead of sharp, as in all other oscinine birds. Their tarsi are also scutellated behind, except occasionally in very old birds, the plates corresponding nearly in position and number with those in front. As this form of the tarsus is generally regarded as a generalized feature, the Larks are usually placed at the bottom of the series, but as Dr. Stejneger has hinted, it may be in the light of our present knowledge a specialized feature, in which case they should perhaps be placed at the top, a position, indeed, which has sometimes been assigned them. In addition to the above characters the Larks have long, pointed wings in which there are normally ten primaries, though the outer is often very short or practically obsolete, lengthened inner secondaries, moderately long tails of twelve feathers, and usually an elongated hind claw. The bill is variable in shape, but has the edges of both mandibles smooth, except for a notch in the upper one. The head is often crested or furnished with erectile tufts or horns. They are generally sociable, and, when not breeding, often gregarious birds, frequenting principally open plains, cultivated areas, or arid deserts, walking and running with ease and celerity on the ground and rarely alighting on trees. To”sing like a Lark”has become a proverb, and it is well founded, for the celebrated European Skylark, which belongs here, may be taken as the typical musical member of the family; the song is usually given while the birds are soaring in the air. Some of the Larks are migratory, while others are stationary or only very partially migratory. They are especially developed in the Palsearctic area, being abundant in Europe, central Asia, and the more open parts of Africa, only a portion of one genus being indigenous to America. As might be presumed, they all nest on the ground, constructing usually a very slight structure of grasses in a hollow or under a tuft of grass.

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