Page:The Common Birds of Bombay.djvu/162

146 There are two other species of Larks found throughout the Presidency, which may easily be confounded with the true Skylark. The chief difference is that they have both a sharp-pointed crest rising from the crown of the head. Jerdon calls one of them the Malabar Crested Lark (Alauda malabarica) and the other the Small Crested Lark (Spisalauda deva).

They both soar and sing, but I am ashamed to say that I know very little about their song, or I should be ashamed if I had not noticed that Jerdon and Barnes and Gates all seem to avoid saying anything definite on the subject, from which I infer that they knew no more than I. The fact is that when the Lark is singing it is generally out of sight, or too high up to be distinguished clearly, so it is not easy to be sure which species you are listening to. It seems to follow that there cannot be a very marked difference in their songs. The Small Crested Lark at any rate is very highly esteemed by natives, especially Mahomedans, both as a songster and a mimic. They keep it in a very small cage, wrapped in folds of cloth which keep out every ray of light. I suppose the idea is that a hermit's cell is the nearest approach to heaven, but it is a curious answer to Shelley's question—

It succeeds. Withdrawn from all terrestrial distractions, the birds sing as they do when they are "ringed with the azure world."

Besides these we have two birds of the Lark tribe which are not exactly Skylarks. They do not sing