516 



ALAUDID^. 



Adult male. Above bright sandy rufous, with narrow and indis- 

 tinct brown centres to the feathers, many of which are also mar- 

 gined with buif}' white in a more or less conspicuous manner; the 

 head of the same rufous as the back, with slight fulvous margins 

 and small dark brown centres to the feathers ; lores and a very 

 indistinct eyebrow huffy white : ear-coverts uniform bright sandy 

 rufous ; cheeks buffy wliite, with a few tiny spots of brown ; quills 

 sandy brown, with white margins to the feathers, which are all dark 

 brown in the centre, the greater coverts externally inclining to 

 greyish ; quills ashy brown, the primaries tipped with whitish, the 

 secondaries darker, externally margined with sandy rufous, inclining 

 to huffy white towards the tips of the feathers ; rump and upper 

 tail-coverts nearly uniform rufous, the long plumes of the latter 

 dark brown in the centre and narrowly tipped with whitish ; tail 

 blackish, with a large spot of white at the tip of all the feathers 

 except the two centre ones, which are rufous, more or less marked 

 down the centre with greyish brown, all the feathers more or less 

 rufous towards the base, this colour sometimes extending for half 

 the feather ; the external rectrix narrowly margined on the outer 

 web with buffy white ; throat entirely white ; rest of under surface 

 of body bright sandy rufous, with a few more or less distinct white 

 margins to some of the feathers, on the breast minutely spotted \\ith 

 dark brown ; under wing-coverts pale sandy rufous, those on the 

 edge of the wing slightly mottled with brown : " bill dusky brown, 

 paler on the lower mandible and on the edges of the upper ; tarsi 

 and feet pale ; iris dark hazel " (T. At/res). Total length 6"1 

 inches, culmen 0"85, wing 3-7, tail 2-6, tarsus 1-15. 



Adult female. Similar to the male in colour, but smaller and 

 having a much shorter bill : " iris and bill somewhat lighter than in 

 the male" {T. Aijres). Total length 5'5 inches, culmen 0'75, wing 

 3'5, tail 2-1, tarsus l-Oo. 



Young. Principall}' distinguished by its spotted plumage, the 

 white margins to the feathers of the upper surface being rather 

 spots than terminal margins, and being further discriminated bj' 

 small subterminal black spots. Around the hind neck is a distinct 

 shade of fulvous, almost forming a collar and much plainer than in 

 the adult biids ; the margins to the wing-coverts very broadly and 

 distinctly white ; throat, lores, and a scarcely perceptible super- 

 ciliary line white ; rest of under surface pale sandy rufous, becoming 

 gradually more fulvous on the abdomen ; the breast slightly spotted 

 with pale brown, the feathers margined with whitish. 



1)1 winter the young bird is very different, having very broad 

 circular margins of white to all the feathers of the upper surface, 

 with obscure brown central streaks, the under surface very pale and 

 with scarcely any perceptible brown spots on the breast. 



In 1871 I united C. garrula and C. rufuJa together ; but on 

 revising the facts in 187-1 I came to the conclusion that they might 

 be separated on the colour of their secondaries. I regret to find 

 that the receipt of further specimens does not confirm this conclu- 

 sion, and between the rufous birds of the Transvaal and the dark- 



