250 



SINGING BIRDS— OSCINES. 



Tlie nest and eggs, as •svell as the complete biograpliy of tins pretty liird, 

 remain to be described. It Las many jjoints of difference from the true 

 P'qyilos, and will probably be yet separated from that genus, perliaps as 

 a Kieneria, as suggested by Bonaparte. To illustrate its characters we give 

 above figures of the bird and of its external anatoniv. 



Family ALAUDID.^:, The Larks. 



Char. First primary very short or wanting. Tarsus scutellate anteriorly 

 and posteriorly, with the plates nearly of corresponding position and num- 

 ber. Hind claw very long and nearly straight. Bill short, conical ; frontal 

 feathers extending along its sides ; the nostrils usually concealed by a tuft 

 of bristly feathers directed forwards. Tertials greatly elongated beyond 

 the secondaries. 



E. coniuta. 



