13. MIRAFEA. 619 



/. 2 ad. sk. Weenen, Natal, March 26 (T. Shelley Coll. 



Arnold). 



ff,k.(S2 ad. Swaziland, July {T. E. Buck- Shelley Coll. 



sk. ley). •' 



i, h^^. d ad. Transvaal, July (T. E. B.). Shelley Coll. 



m. S ad. sk. Transvaal {T. Ai/res). Sharpe Coll 



n. 2 ad. sk. Limpopo River, Aug. 18 ( W. Sharpe Coll! 



I^ucas). 



0, p, q r. Ad. ; Eustenburg, Feb., May, June, Shelley CoU. 



s. Juv. sk. ( W. Lucas). 



t, u. Ad. sk. Tati, Matabele Country, Oct. W. E. & C G Gates 



25 (F. Oates). Esqs. [P.j. " ' 



22. Mirafra nigricans. 



Alauda nigricans, Sxindev. (Efv. K. Vet.-Ahad. Fork. Stockh. 1850. 



p. 99. ' 



Mirafra nigricans, Gray, Hand-l. B. ii. p. 121, no. 7805 (1870) • 



Sharpe P Z. S. 1874, p. 651 ; Bocage, Orn. Angola, p. 376, pi. viii! 



fig. 1 (1881; ; Ayres, Ibis, 1884, p. 231, 1886, p. 290. 



Adult male. General colour above ashy black, the feathers 

 broadly edged with sandy rufous ; wing-coverts, quills, and tail- 

 feathers black, with broad rufous margins ; the inner primaries and 

 secondaries with rather broad white tips ; head like the back ; a 

 broad white eyebrow ; lores and feathers round the eye sandy 

 white, with a supraloral line of black ; a streak of black from the 

 base of the bill to the ear-coverts, which are also black with a central 

 patch of white ; cheeks and throat sandy white, separated by a 

 broad malar line of black ; remainder of under surface of body 

 sandy white, the lower throat, fore neck, and breast thickly spotted 

 with large triangular black markings, taking the form of linear 

 streaks on the lower breast ; flanks also mottled with black bases, 

 many of the feathers being black on the inner web ; under wing- 

 coverts black, with broad whitish edges ; quills dusky blackish below, 

 pale rufous near the base of the inner webs : " bill dusky, the lower 

 mandible pale at the base ; feet yellowish white ; iris hazel " {T. 

 Ayres). Total length 7-3 inches, culmen 0-7, wing 4-65, tail 2-7o' 

 tarsus 1-15. ' 



AduU in breeding-plumage. Blacker than in winter plumage, all 

 the pale edgings becoming worn off, the black markings on the face 

 and breast being very distinct. 



Hah. Eastern Transvaal to Benguela. 



a. S ad. sk. Eustenburg, E. Transvaal, Jan. 10 Shelley Coll, 



{T. Ayres). 



b. Ad. sk. Makalaka Country. Dr. Eradsbaw [C.]. 



23. Mirafra erythropygia. 



Alauda erythropygia, .SyWcA/. B.Z.S. 1850, p. 219, pi. 24; Gray 

 Hand-l. B. ii. p. 118, no. 7754 (1870) ; Eeunl. Orn. N.O.-Afr i 

 pt. 2, p. 676 (1871). • 



