SIX months' bird collecting in EGYPT, 1 73 



time I went, running swiftly over the sand. Their legs are 

 white, and their bleached appearance is most typical of the 

 true desert. They varied somewhat in plumage. One was 

 evidently a bird of the year — though so early — April 3rd, 

 with crescent markings on the upper plumage like a young 

 Cursorius gallicus, and no chest spots ; but what struck me 

 most was the extraordinary difference in length of beak, 

 and in size. The smallest measured 7g- in. ; the largest 9 

 inches. The bill of the smallest was broken, but the culmen 

 of the next measured |, while the largest was li in. My 

 two smallest specimens I attribute to C. salvini (Tristram), 

 but as Mr. Dresser has united that with C. desertorum, (loc. 

 cit.) I do the same. 



III. Skylark, Alauda arvensis, Linn.; 

 A. intermedia, Swinhoe. 



Rather common in the Delta, where I shot one on the 

 13th of January. The last I saw was in the market at 

 Cairo on the 17th of February. 



112. Crested Lark, Alauda cristata, Linn.; 

 "Umbar" or " Kunbarah." 



There is little to be said of this very common resident. 

 They pair early, and I often found their eggs. On the 2nd 

 of March I saw a young one already able to fly. By the 

 time they can fly a little the crest is well developed : it 

 differs from the crest of the adult in being tipped with 

 white. 



I have seen Crested Larks panting with the heat when 

 the thermometer stood at about 85°, and again when it was 

 nearly 100°. Sonnini mentions having noticed them "in 

 the middle of the day with their bills half open, and the 



