NOVITATES ZOOLOGICAE XXI. 1014. 193 



24. Ammomanes phoenicurus arenicolor (Sundev.). 



Only once, on May 13, we came across a pair with 3'onng of these birds, some 

 6 or 8 kilometres west of Aiu Sefra. We shot a male and a young bird. The latter 

 closely resembles the old. 



25. Galerida theklae harterti Erl. 



Cf. Nov. Zool. xviii. p. 493. 



The darkest form of Galerida theklae is found nearOran, on Djebel Mourdjadjo, 

 near Cape Falcon, and at the foot of Djebel Khar, also around Tlemcen. We also 

 saw dark Crested Larks along the railway-line from Alger to Oran, which must all 

 have been G. t. harterti. There are, of course, variations, and some of the birds shot 

 near Tlemcen in particular are rather light on the npperside, but it is impossible 

 to separate them, as others are much darker, and similar variations occur in the 

 north of the provinces of Alger and Constantine, as well as in North Tunisia. The 

 wings of the males from the jirovince of Oran measure from 105 to 108 and once 

 110 mm., females 9s to 102 and even 104, unless the latter is erroneously marked 

 as ?. 



On April 16 a clutch of four very hard-set eggs was found near Oran. They 

 are quite characteristic, and are largely spotted — not iinely dotted. They measure 

 22 X 16-8, 22-9 x 17-2, 21-7 x 17-1, and 22-2 x 17-6 mm. 



26. Galerida theklae ruficolor Whit. 



Galerida Ihekkie ruficohr Whitaker, Ihiii 1898. p. 603 (" Central and Southern Miu-occo "). 



When visiting the vast clayey plain west of Lalla Marnia, covered witli 

 Zizyjihus, and here and there with Terebinth trees, on April 27, we also shot half 

 a dozen Crested Larks. At once, when the first specimen was in our hands, we 

 noticed that it was a paler bird than what we had collected near Oran and Tlemcen. 

 This is really the case, for, although variable to a certain e.xtent, the six Lalla 

 Marnia birds form a much paler series than those from North Algeria generally, 

 and we must unite them with tialerida theklae ruficolor AVhit. from " Central and 

 Southern Marocco." They agree well with onr specimens from the south-western 

 parts of the Maroccan Atlas and the neighbourhood of Mogador. The wings 

 measure 103-107 mm., all being males. 



Though Lalla Marnia is not far from Tlemcen as the crow flies, the country 

 where the Larks were shot is a very different one. While near Oran, in North 

 Algeria generally, and around Tlemcen, our Galerida theklae harterti were collected 

 among raonntaius, woods, fields, and vineyards, there stretches westwards from 

 Lalla Marnia a vast plain of clayey soil, covered with innumerable bushes of 

 Zizi/phus lotus, sparingly cultivated and fannistically different, as evidenced by the 

 Mollusca and reptiles which are found there. 



27. Galerida theklae carolinae Erl. 



Round the foot and on the lower slopes of Djebel Aissa, and in the 

 neighbouring stony plain, G. theklae carolinae occurred in small numbers. This 

 form is variable everywhere, and here too some specimens are more greyish, with 

 well-marked blackish centres to the feathers of the back, while others are more 



13 



