292 Capt. B. Alexander on the 



and secondaries are broadly edged with pale tawny. The 

 majority of those obtained at Accra in June are in worn 

 breeding-plumage ; the vinous on the upper parts and the 

 pale edgings to the wing-feathers have disappeared through 

 abrasion, and the general appearance of the upper parts then 

 becomes pale brown and more uniform. 



Owing to the red soil at Accra, the under parts of several 

 of our specimens obtained there are rufous. This Lark is 

 plentiful on the rough scrubby plains around Accra, but 

 further inland in the Hinterland it becomes scarce. At 

 Gambaga it was occasionally observed, generally towards 

 evening, flying for a short distance and then dropping verti- 

 cally to the ground. In June we found this species breeding ; 

 the male birds were constantly to be seen rising vertically 

 into the air for a short distance with a peculiar whirring 

 sound of the wings and then shooting straight as an arrow 

 to earth again. 



Adult S , Gambaga, 28/1/01. Total length (measured in 

 the flesh) 5'3 inches, wing 2*7, culmen "05, tarsus '07. Iris 

 brown ; upper mandible brown, lower one bluish horn- 

 coloured ; legs and feet whitish flesh-coloured. 



The sexes are alike in plumage and dimensions. 



25. MiRAFRA ERYTHROPYGIA (Strickl.). 



Mirafra ei-ythropygia Sharpe, Cat. B. xiii. p. 619; Reichen. 

 J. f. O. 1891, p. 390, 1897, p. 43; Hartert, Nov. Zool. vi. 

 p. 414 (1899) (Gambaga). 



Although Capt. Giff"ard obtained a single example of this 

 rare Lark at Gambaga in 1898, we did not meet with the 

 species in that locality, but we eventually obtained four 

 specimens in worn breeding- plumage at Karaga, near Salaga, 

 which lies near the western boundary of the Hinterland. 

 They were very shy and difiicult to approach, frequenting 

 the patches of yam-plantation and using the newly-made 

 hillocks as look-out posts. When disturbed, they would 

 often take refuge in some neighbouring thick-leaved tree, 

 or rise to a considerable altitude in widening circles, 

 dropping quickly to earth again as soon as the cause of 



