Alaudidae
百靈科
bǎi-líng kē

General

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The larks are most commonly known as 百靈 bǎi-líng (sometimes 百靈鳥 bǎi-líng-niǎo), literally meaning 'hundred spirit' or 'hundred clever'. This, along with 雲雀 yún-què (literally 'cloud sparrow'), which is used for larks in the genus Alauda, is both the most popular name and the general ornithological name of the larks. But there are several groups of traditional and dialect names for members of the family.

1. The first is the group that 百靈 bǎi-líng belongs to. These names use the word 靈 or spirit, possibly due to the popular belief that a skylark is the soul of a person who has returned from the dead. This is found in the expression: 死了變成了白靈鳥飛來也要卯親親 sǐ le biàn-chéng bái-líng-niǎo, fēi-lái yě yào mǎo qīnqīn 'Becomes a skylark after death; when it flies back it comes to visit relatives'. In some areas such as Inner Mongolia, 百靈 bǎi líng 'hundred spirit' is transformed into 白靈 bái líng 'white spirit', giving rise to related names like 白靈靈 bái líng-líng 'white spirit-spirit' and 白靈鳥 bái líng-niǎo 'white spirit bird'. 百靈 bǎi líng 'hundred spirit' has also been written 百翎, 'hundred plume', treating líng as 'plume or feather'. This is a very literate folk etymology.

2. A large number of names (including 雲雀 yún-què) refer to the skylark's habit of singing while rapidly flying straight up, which makes it look as if the bird is calling to the sky. These include: 朝天柱 cháo tiān zhù 'towards heaven pillar'; 告天鳥 gào tiān niǎo 'tell heaven bird'; 告天子 gào tiān zǐ 'tell heaven'; 告天知 gào tiān zhī 'tell heaven know'; 叫天鳥 jiào tiān niǎo 'call heaven bird'; 叫天雀 jiào tiān què 'call heaven sparrow/finch'; 叫天子 jiào tiān zǐ 'call heaven'; 天鳥 tiān niǎo 'heaven bird'; and 噪天 zào tiān 'noisy/chirp to heaven'.

3. A third name is 鷚 liù, which in ancient sources referred to a young bird or chick, but by early modern times was used for the larks. 天鷚 tiān liù is found in the Wuti Qingwen Jian (五體清文鑑 wǔtǐ qīngwén jiàn, originally published 1805) with the meaning 'lark'. 鷚 was used by the Japanese to write the word ヒバリ hibari 'lark'. Related terms include 阿鷚 ā-liù and 阿蘭 ā-làn. The earliest ornithological list of Chinese names, Chinese Birds (35) in 1927, used 鷚 liù for both the larks and the visually extremely similar pipits (Motacillidae), reflecting either Japanese or Chinese usage, or both. Despite traditional usage, modern ornithological lists use 鷚 liù exclusively for the pipits.

Species names

SCIENTIFIC & ENGLISH		CHINESE			JAPANESE		OTHER
Alaudala
Latin	English	Chinese (Taiwan)	Chinese (Mainland)	Other Ch	Japanese	Other J	Korean	Vietnamese
Alaudala cheleensis Calandrella cheleensis	Asian short-toed lark Mongolian short-toed lark Salt-marsh lark	(亚洲短趾百灵) 亞洲短趾百靈 yàzhōu duǎn-zhǐ bǎi-líng 'Asian short-toed hundred-spirit'	(短趾百靈) 短趾百灵 duǎn-zhǐ bǎi-líng 'short-toed hundred-spirit' (1, 2, 3, 4) (亞洲短趾百靈) 亚洲短趾百灵 yàzhōu duǎn-zhǐ bǎi-líng 'Asian short-toed hundred-spirit' (5. alt in 1, 3)	(华北沙鹨) 華北沙鷚 huá-běi shā-liù 'north China sand-lark' (early ornithological) (35)	アジアコヒバリ (アジア小雲雀) ajia ko-hibari 'Asian small lark' (hibari written 'cloud sparrow')	Calandrella rufescens cheleensis: コヒバリ (小雲雀) ko-hibari 'small lark'	북방쇠종다리 bukbang-soe-jongdari 'northern small lark'
Calandrella
Latin	English	Chinese (Taiwan)	Chinese (Mainland)	Other Ch	Japanese	Other J	Korean	Vietnamese
Calandrella brachydactyla	Greater short-toed lark	(大短趾百灵) 大短趾百靈 dà duǎn-zhǐ bǎi-líng 'large short-toed hundred-spirit'	(大短趾百靈) 大短趾百灵 dà duǎn-zhǐ bǎi-líng 'large short-toed hundred-spirit' (2, 3, 4) (短趾百靈) 短趾百灵 duǎn-zhǐ bǎi-líng 'short-toed hundred-spirit' (alt in 1, 5. alt in 3) Taxonomy	短趾沙百灵 (短趾沙百靈) duǎn-zhǐ shā bǎi-líng 'short-toed sand hundred-spirit' (6, 7) 红短趾鹨 (紅短趾鷚) hóng duǎn-zhǐ liù 'red short-toed lark' (early ornithological) (35) 白眉 (白眉) bái-méi 'white eyebrow'	ヒメコウテンシ (姫告天子) hime kōtenshi 'princess tell-heaven'		쇠종다리 soe-jongdari 'small lark'
Alauda
Latin	English	Chinese (Taiwan)	Chinese (Mainland)	Other Ch	Japanese	Other J	Korean	Vietnamese
Alauda arvensis	Eurasian Sky Lark Eurasian Skylark Skylark Northern skylark	(欧亚云雀) 歐亞雲雀 ōu-yà yún-què 'Eurasian cloud sparrow'	(雲雀) 云雀 yún-què 'cloud sparrow'	阿鹨儿 (阿鷚兒) ā-liùr 'lark' (northern) (35) 叫天子儿 (叫天子兒) jiào-tiānzǐr 'call heaven' (northern) (35) 告天知 (告天知) gào-tiānzhǐ 'tell heaven know' (southern) (35) 大鹨 (大鷚) dà liù 'large lark' (35, from Zool. Nomen.) 鱼鳞燕 (魚鱗燕) yú-lín yàn 'fish-scaled swallow'	ヒバリ (雲雀) hibari 'lark' written 'cloud sparrow' Taxonomy		종다리 jongdari 'lark'
Alauda gulgula	East Asian Sky Lark East Asian Skylark Lesser skylark Small skylark	(小云雀) 小雲雀 xiǎo yún-què 'small cloud sparrow'	(小雲雀) 小云雀 xiǎo yún-què 'small cloud sparrow'	小阿勒 (小阿勒) xiǎo ā-lè 'small a-le'	タイワンヒバリ (台湾雲雀) taiwan hibari 'Taiwan lark' (hibari written 'cloud sparrow')			Chim Sơn ca 'son ca bird' (ca = 'sing') (12, 13, 34)

Some sources differentiate Alauda arvensis japonica as a separate species, known as:
日本云雀
(日本雲雀)
rìběn yún-què
'Japanese cloud sparrow' (in 2, 3, and 4).

Some sources differentiate Alauda arvensis japonica as a separate species, known as:
ニホンヒバリ
(日本雲雀)
nihon hibari
'Japanese lark' (hibari written 'cloud sparrow') (Internet sources)
Other than Alauda arvensis japonica, subspecies of A. arvensis are オオヒバリ ō hibari (large skylark) for A. a. pekinensis and カラフトチュウヒバリ Karafuto chū-hibari (Sakhalin medium skylark) for A. a. lonnbergi.

Some sources differentiate Alauda arvensis japonica as a separate species, known as:
극동종다리
geuk-dong-jongdari
'far-eastern lark'

中国鸟类种和亚种分类名录大全（修订版） 郑作新 著 科学出版社 北京 2000年
A Complete Checklist of Species and Subspecies of the Chinese Birds (Revised Edition) by Cheng Tso-Hsin, Science Press, Beijing 2000

中国鸟类分类与分布名录 主编：郑光美 科学出版社 北京 2005年
A Checklist on the Classification and Distribution of the Birds of China Chief editor: Zheng Guangmei, Science Press, Beijing 2005

中国鸟类野外手册（中文版）约翰・马敬能、卡伦・菲利普斯，合作者：荷芬奇，翻译：卢和芬 湖南教育出版社 长沙 2000年
A Field Guide to the Birds of China (Chinese translation) by John MacKinnon, Karen Phillipps, in collaboration with He Fen-qi, translated by Lu Hefen, Hunan Jiaoyu Chubanshe (Hunan Educational Press) Changsha 2000

世界鸟类分类与分布名录 主编：郑光美 科学出版社 北京 2002年
A Checklist on the Classification and Distribution of the Birds of the World Chief editor: Zheng Guangmei, Science Press, Beijing 2002

世界鸟类名称（拉丁文、汉文、英文对照）第二版 郑作新等 科学出版社 北京 2002年
Birds of the World (Latin, Chinese and English Names) 2nd ed. by Cheng Tso-Hsin et al, Science Press, Beijing 2002

中国鸟类分布名录 第二版 郑作新 科学出版社 北京 1976年
(Checklist of the Classification of Birds of China 2nd edition by Cheng Tso-Hsin, Science Press, Beijing 1976)

香港及華南鳥類（第六版）（翻譯成中文及重新修訂） 尹璉、費嘉倫、林超英 香港性徵特區政府新聞處政府印務局 1994年
Birds of Hong Kong and South China (6th edition, translated into Chinese and newly revised) by Clive Viney, Karen Phillipps, Lin Chaoying, Hong Kong Govt. Press 1994

Danh Lục Chim Việt Nam (In lần thứ hai) (Checklist of the Birds of Vietnam) Võ Quý, Nguyễn Cử, Nhà Xuất Bản Nông Nghiệp, Hà Nội 1999

Chim Việt Nam Nguyễn Cử, Lê Trọng Trải, Karen Phillipps; Nhà Xuất Bản Lao Động - Xã Hội, 2000

Danh Lục Các Loài Chim ở Việt Nam (Latinh, Việt, Pháp, Hán) Trần Văn Chánh 2008-2009

Chinese Birds (A Tentative List of Chinese Birds) 中國鳥類（中國鳥類目錄試編） N. Gist Gee, Lacy I. Moffett, G. D. Wilder (祁天錫, 慕維德, 萬卓志), Peiping, 1927 (reprinted 1948)