34 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



4. E. I. smithi: Damaraland, Bechuanaland, and the Transvaal, 

 north to the Zambesi Valley, to the north of which it intergrades with 

 madaraszi. 



The present specimens are in worn plumage and may well have been 

 in breeding condition when collected. The race inhabiting the Nile 

 Valley {inelanocephala) has been found nesting in January, March, 

 and May, and as all larks have but one annual molt, which comes after 

 the end of the nesting season, it seems not improbable that the birds of 

 southern Shoa and the adjacent part of Kenya Colony breed in June 

 and July. 



The three males are uniformly similar in color and in size. Their 

 measurements are: Wing, 76, 78, 78.5; tail, 41, 41.5, 42; culmen, 11, 

 11, 11; tarsus, 15.5, 16, 16.5 mm, while those of the female are: Wing, 

 76.5 ; tail, 39.5 ; culmen, 11.5 ; tarsus, 16.5 mm. 



Von Heuglin found this finch lark numerous in the highlands be- 

 tween Tigre and Simien, up to 8,000 feet. On the other hand, Er- 

 langer obtained it at sea level at Kismayu on the coast, so that the 

 altitudinal range of the species is considerable. The Kismayu records 

 refer to madaraszl and not to typical leucotis. In general, however, 

 the nominate form is more of a highland bird than either melano- 

 cephdla or maxlaraszi. 



Besides the specimens collected, Mearns noted this bird in large 

 numbers every day during his journey from Chaffa to the Endoto 

 Mountains, June 23 to July 20. From 20 to 500 birds were seen daily. 

 It may be that the more southern of these records refer to madaraszi, 

 but no specimens were taken south of Dussia. 



EREMOPTERYX NIGRICEPS MELANAUCHEN (Cabanis) 



Coraphites melanauchen Cabanis, Museum Heineanum, vol. 1, p. 124, 1851: 



No locality ; Dahlak Island, Red Sea, apud Heuglin. 

 Specimens collected : 3 adult males, 1 adult female, 1 immature female, Djibouti, 



French Somaliland, November 23, 1911. 



Owing to lack of comparative material, I follow Sclater ^^ in refer- 

 ring these birds to melanauchen and in restricting the range of the 

 race to the African side of the Red Sea. I have seen no birds from 

 the Yemen Province of Arabia and can not say whether sincipitalis 

 is valid. 



If the ranges of thei subspecies as given by Sclater are correct, it 

 would appear that typical nigriceps of the Cape Verde Islands might 

 be one species and alhifroiis^ melanauchen^ and sincipitalis another, 

 as the two groups are widely separated and nigriceps has no dark 

 subnuchal band and has the white on the forehead much wider than 



*2 Systema avium ^thiopicarum, pt. 2, pp. 329-330, 1930. 



