(1234) Mirafra assamica microptera.
The Burmese Bush-Lark.
Mirafra microptera Hume, Str, Feath., i, p. 483 (Thayetmyo); Blanf. & Oates, ii, p. 336.
Vernacular names. Chinna-eeli-gitta (Tel.).
Description. Exactly like the Madras Bush-Lark but a little darker and less rufous and decidedly smaller.
Colours of soft parts as in the other races.
Measurements. Wing 67 to 77 mm.; tail 40 to 45 mm.; tarsus 22 to 23 mm.; culmen 12 to 13 mm.
Distribution. Chin Hills, Arakan, Central and South Burma, but probably replaced by marionae in Eastern Tenasserim.
Nidification. The Burmese Bush-Lark breeds from June to August, making a nest on the ground just like that of the other Bush-Larks, sometimes domed, sometimes a mere shallow cup. The eggs are small replicas of those of the Madras Bush-Lark but are a good deal darker as a series. Twenty eggs average 19.5 x 14.0 mm. : maxima 21.5 X 14.5 and 21.1 X 15.4 mm, ; minima 17.4 X 14.2 and 18.5 x 14.0 mm.
Two is the normal clutch, three being seldom laid.
Habits. This Bush-Lark differs in its ways but little from any of the others. It is perhaps more often found in denser bush and scrub than is frequented by the other races and it also seems to be a more persistent singer on the wing than the Bengal or Madras birds are. Oates says that they often frequent fallow ground and Hopwood found them breeding on ploughed land, the nest being hidden under clods of earth.
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