1217. Alauda gulgula coelivox

(1217) Alauda gulgula coelivox Swinhoe.
THE CHINESE SMALL Sky-Lark.
Alauda gulgula coelivox, Fauna B. I., Birds, 2nd ed vol. iii, p. 321.
This little Sky-Lark is found within our hunts in the Shan. States, extending thence into Yunnan and into Southern and Eastern China.
The only records of its breeding are those of Wickham and of Harington, the latter of whom obtained a nest and two eggs on Mt. Victoria, a curious extension of its range West. This clutch, now in my possession, has a note with it to this effect:— “861a. Alauda japonica. Originally 3, one egg broken. Taken at 7,000 feet. Bird shot off the nest and identified by Oates at the B.M. as Alauda japonica.” The skin, now in the British Museum, appears to be a quite typical coelivox.
The other record is that of Wickham, who notes (Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. xxxiv, p. 51, 1930) that he “took some nests at about 8,000 feet in the Chin Hills. The nests were typical Lark’s nests taken in April, in each case a clutch of three only, rather long ovals, and one clutch has a very distinct ring of marking round the big end.”
Vaughan and Jones found it breeding commonly in Shamshui, China, and note (Ibis, 1913, pp. 176-177):— "The nest is much like a Sky-Lark’s, but perhaps a trifle more flimsy, and the eggs are laid as a rule in April ; while, as the bird is double brooded, a second clutch is deposited in June or July. Fully fledged young have been seen as early as May 16th. The usual clutch is four, but five eggs were once ohtained,”
Fourteen eggs average 20.2 x 16.1 mm. : maxima 21.4 x 16.1 and 10.8 x 17.0 mm. ; minima 19.2 x 15.9 and 20.0 x 16.2 mm.
They cannot be distinguished from the eggs of Alauda g. gulgula.