610 ALAUDIDJK. 



Mirafra immaculata, Hume, Sir. F. 1873, p. 12 ; id. Str. F. 1879, 



p. 257. 

 Mirafra erytlirocephala, Sahad. S,- Gigl. Atti R. Accad. Torino, xx. 



p. 42U (lS85 = pt. hiem.). 



Adult male. General colour above dark ashy with broad black 

 centres to the feathers ; the lower back and rump more uniform, 

 the upper tail-coverts blackish with ashy edges to the feathers, 

 wiug-coverts, bastard-wing, and primary-coverts dark brown, edged 

 with ashy whitish, tinged with rufous ; quills dark brown, conspicu- 

 ously rufous along the outer margin ; the secondaries dark brown, 

 more narrowly margined with ashy whitish tinged with rufoiis, 

 especially near the base of the outer web ; the inner secondaries 

 with rather broad ashy margins ; tail-feathers dark brown, with 

 ashy-whitish margins and tinged with rufous near the base of the 

 outer web, the outer feathers margined with white ; head and neck 

 like the back, and similarly centred with black, the hind neck 

 slightly lighter grey ; lores and eyebrow, as well as the sides of the 

 face, ear-coverts, and cheeks, sandy buff, with a blackish shade on 

 the hinder margin of the ear-coverts ; sides of neck ashy, striated 

 with blackish like the hinder neck, and separated by a line of 

 sandy buff from the black mark on the hinder ear-coverts ; throat 

 white ; remainder of under surface of body sandy buff, the sides of 

 the body washed with ashy brown ; the fore neck and chest 

 distinctly spotted with small triangular spots of dark brown ; a few 

 tiny dots on the malar line also ; long under tail-coverts with dusky 

 centres ; under wing-coverts and axillaries ferruginous ; quills dusky 

 below, deep ferruginous or chestnut on both webs, the shaft, how- 

 ever, remaining brown to the base : " upper mandible dusky, the 

 lower one pale horny ; legs pinkish brown, darkest on the toes ; 

 iris pale brown " (E. W. Cleveland). Total length 5-5 inches, 

 culmen 0'6, wing 3'3, tail 1"8, tarsus 1. 



In the winter plumage the whole tone of the upper surface is 

 more distinctly ashy grey, which also pervades the sides of the upper 

 breast ; the eyebrow and sides of face are more distinctly fulvescent, 

 and the ear-coverts are spotted with black ; the spots along the 

 malar line are also much more distinct, and those on the chest also 

 well pronounced; the wing- coverts and inner secondaries are 

 rather broadly edged with sandy buff, and the margins of the tail- 

 feathers are also distinctly sandy buff. 



Adult female. Browner than the male both in winter and 

 summer, and having the lower back and rump slightly streaked 

 with blackish. Total length 6 inches, culmen 0-65, wing 3-1, 

 tail l"7o, tarsus 0-95. 



Full-grown young birds are brown like the adult female, but 

 have remains of pale fringes to the feathers of the upper surface, 

 especially on the wing-coverts ; the bastard-wing and primary- 

 coverts with a good deal of rufous ; the quills and tail-feathers 

 externally rufous, the primaries being deep chestnut with dusky 

 brown centres widening towards the ends ; eyebrow, sides of face, 



