598 alaxjdid-t:. 



are seen in the tail-feathers of the adult; ear-coverts cinnamon, 

 thickly spotted with black ; under surface of body isabelline, the 

 throat with a few concealed brown bars ; the Hanks and thighs deeper 

 rufous, slightly mottled with brown barrings ; the chest much deeper 

 cinnamon, especially on the sides, the latter being slightly varied 

 with blackish wavy lines, the centre of the chest sparsely spotted 

 with blackish. Total length 5-8 inches, culmen 0-G, wing 3, tail 2-35, 

 tarsus 1. 



Hah. South-eastern Africa, from the Orange Free State to the 

 Transvaal, and extending to the Zambesi. 



a. Ad. sk. Bloemfontein {H. Exton). Shelley Coll. 



h. (S ad. sk. Orange Free State, June 5 (T. E. Shelley Coll. 



Bnckley). 



c, d. cJ ad. sk. Rustenburg, E. Transvaal, Feb., Shelley Coll. 



June ( TF. Lucas). 



e. Ad. sk. Transvaal {T. At/res). Sharpe Coll. 



2. Mirafra apiata. 



L'Alouette bateleuse, Levaill. Ois. (VAfr. iv.pl. 194 (1805) ; Sundev. 



Krit. om Leraill. p. 46 (1857). 

 Alauda apiata, Vieill. N. Diet. (JCHist. Nat. i. p. ^'2 (1816); Grill, 



Zool. A?itecJm. p. 40 (1858). 

 Alauda clamosa, Steph. Gen. Zool. xiv. p. 23 (1826). 

 Brachonyx apiata, Smith, III. Zool. S. Aft: pi. 110. fig. 1 (1847). 

 Megalophoous . apiatus, L'p. Consp. i. p. 244 (I860) ; Layard, B. 



S. Afr. p. 215 (1867) ; Gray, Hand-l. B. ii. p. 122, no. 7815 



(1870) ; Shelley, Ibis, 1875, p. 81. 

 Mirafra apiata, Sharpe, P. Z. S, 1874, p. 638 ; id. ed. Layard's B. 



S. Afr. p. 515 (1884). 



Adult male in summer plumage. Upper surface dark brown, the 

 rufous obscure and the grey shade strongly marked only on the 

 lower back and secondaries ; head dark brown, with scarcely any 

 grey shade or rufous markings ; hind neck scarcely lighter than the 

 head or back ; wing-coverts ending in a rufous tint, with no per- 

 ceptible grey margin ; inner secondaries with a narrow blackish 

 shaft- line, from which radiate about six narrow blackish cross lines ; 

 tail nearly uniform brown, with an obsolete shade of greyish on the 

 centre tail-feathers, the external feathers being light fawn-colour on 

 the outer web ; eyebrow pale fawn ; under surface of body bright 

 fawn, the throat and chest speckled with black : " bill dark horn- 

 colour, with the basal two thirds of the lower mandible and the 

 edges of the upper one towards the gape bufRsh flesh-colour ; legs 

 white with a faint pink shade"' (&. E. Shelley). Total length 

 5 inches, culmen 0-55, wing 3, tail 2-2, tarsus 1. 



Adult in winter plumage. Upper surface grey, the rufous colour 

 in broad and half-concealed bands : head entirely grey, mottled 

 with blackish centres to the feathers, and slightly washed here and 

 there with rufous ; hind neck very clear grey, paler than head or 

 back ; wing-coverts with a broad whitish-grey margin ; inner 



