Mr. J. I. S. Whitaken on Tunisian Birds. 127 



darker than some skins I have from Algeria^ and also than 

 Loche's specimens in the Turati collection at Milan. On 

 the other hand, they are not quite so dark as a specimen in 

 my collection from Malaga_, in Spain. 



Like some other non-migratory species, this Lark seems 

 to vary in its plumage-colouring according to the natural 

 characteristics of the particular locality it may inhabit, and 

 thus we find the extreme southern form differing greatly in 

 this respect from the northern form, and sufficiently so, I 

 think, to be separated from it as a subspecies. In measure- 

 ments, I may mention, I find no difference between the above 

 forms, the wing-measurement in some twenty specimens I 

 have of this Lark in my collection varying from 4 to 4*2 

 inches in the case of males, and from 3*55 to 375 inches in 

 that of females. 



I found C. duponti not at all uncommon on the plains 

 between Feriana and Kasrin, and I also met with it near El- 

 Oubira, on the Algerio-Tunisian frontier. At Bou-Chebka, 

 to the north of Feriana, it is also comparatively abundant, 

 in fact it seems to occur throughout the greater part of the 

 high-plateau region of Central Tunis, and I can only repeat 

 what I wrote in 'The Ibis'' for 1895, viz. : that this species 

 " is not quite so uncommon as it is generally supposed to be, 

 and that it is owing to the extraordinary capacity the bird 

 has of hiding itself that it escapes notice, and is not more 

 often got,^' 



All the plains where I met with C. dujwnti were covered 

 with wild thyme and other low-growing plants, affording 

 ample cover for hiding, and in no case did I ever meet with this 

 species on a bare spot ; indeed, I generally had the greatest 

 difficulty in catching sight of the bird, although hearing its 

 soft notes within a few yards of me. It is a great runner, 

 and I only twice saw the bird on the wing. Its flight is low, 

 rather feeble, and not prolonged, and so soon as it alights on 

 the ground it runs off, and attempts to conceal itself in the 

 thickest part of the herbage. I generally saw but one bird 

 at a time ; only once did I see two together, probably a pair. 

 Somewhat strange to say, the green, thyme-clad plains, so 



