572 Mr. C. Dixon on the 



There ai^e two races of A. cristata, a grey oue and a rufous 

 one. The grey race {A. cristata) appears to be pretty con- 

 stant in colour, but, on an average, seems to become slightly 

 smaller as it ranges eastwards. It breeds throughout Central 

 and Southern Europe south of the British Channel and the 

 Baltic, through Asia Minor, Persia, and Sind into India. 

 The rufous race is much more variable in colour, and may, 

 for the sake of convenience, be divided into three forms, con- 

 nected together by intermediate examples. A. isabellina is 

 the extreme desert-form, which has only hitherto been re- 

 corded from the desert regions of Northern Africa. A 

 slightly less rufous form, A. magna, is found throughout 

 North Africa, Sind, and Turkestan into Mongolia; whilst 

 in North and West China A. leantungensis, a redder and 

 browner bird, occurs. Among the Algerian birds there are 

 some which have the bill varying from '9 to 1 inch, instead 

 of from "68 to "81 inch. This form has been named A. ma- 

 crorhyncha by Canon Tristram. The variation in the plumage 

 of the Crested Larks appears to be purely a case of protective 

 colouring, and is in no way connected Avith latitude or longi- 

 tude, but simply owing to tlie nature of the country on which 

 the birds are found, 



Melanocorypha calandra. 



The Calandra Lark is a common and conspicuous species, 

 especially in all cultivated districts south of Constantine. 

 We did not observe this bird either in El Kantara or Biskra. 



MiRAFRA DESERTI. 



It was not until we reached El Kantara that we met with 

 the Desert-Lark. It is also common at Biskra. This bird 

 must be one of the few early breeders ; for we got the young, 

 strong upon the wing, at Biskra. At El Kantara they did 

 not appear to be so early. The young of this species is 

 exactly like its parents ; but the rich sandy colours are more 

 intense, and the margins of the quill- and tail-feathers 

 broader — differences, however, that simply owe their origin 

 to the new state of the feathers. One of my young specimens 

 is remarkably pale on the back and undcrparts. 



