FRINGILLIDiE. 217 



brown blotches ; eyebrows grey ; tail-feathers ruddy-brown, 

 margined with reddish-orange. Length, 7" 9'" ; wing, 4" 

 2'" ; tail, 5" 6'". 



" Inhabits arid plains in the interior of Southern Africa ; and when 

 disturbed in one place flies to another not very distant. It has but 

 few of the habits of the larks." — Dr. A. Smith, loc. cit. I have 

 received a few specimens from Mr. Arnot, killed near Colesberg. 



437. Oerthilauda Africana, Sm. ; z. s. a., pi. 



90 ; Alauda Africana, Gmel. ; Cuv., Vol. 2, p. 119 ; 

 Le Sirli, Le Vail., No. 192; Certhiiauda Longirosty is, 

 Swain. ; A. Africana, PI. Enl. 712; Cuv., Vol. 1, p.479. 

 Above, grey-brown, the feathers being margined with dirty 

 white ; beneath white ; the lower part of the throat, breast, 

 and flanks, variegated with short, broad, brown streaks ; 

 wing- feathers yellowish-brown, margined externally with 

 yeHow ; tail-feathers grey- brown, margined externally with 

 ruddy-white. Length, 8" 3'" ; wings, 4" 3"' ; tail, 3" 3'". 



Common in most parts of the colony, as I have received it from all 

 my correspondents. It frequents the sandy Cape Flats, the cornlands 

 of Malmesbury, the uplands of Caledon, and the grassy plateaux of 

 the Knysna. It never congregates in flocks, rarely more than two 

 being found within a certain range. Feeds on insects and seeds. 



It constructs a cup-shaped nest of hair and grasses, lined with 

 feathers, under the shelter of a bush or stone ; the eggs, generally three 

 in number, are dirty-white, faintly and minutely speckled with light 

 brown : axis, IV" ; diam., 8'". Some specimens run much darker 

 than others. 



438. Certhiiauda Subcoronata, Smith ; Zooi. 



S. Af., PI. 90, f. 2. 

 Above, rufous, striped with brown ; below, ruddy- white ; 

 chin, throat, breast, anterior part of belly and flanks, 

 whitish, striped with brown ; wing and tail-feathers, grey- 

 brown, margined with yellowish-brown ; eyebrows rusty- 

 white, prolonged so as nearly to meet on the nape ; iris 

 hazel. Length, 8" 6'" ; wing, 4" 6'" ; tail, 3" 2'". 



But i'ew specimens fell under Dr. Smith's notice, and these were 

 procured in the arid plains of the Middle and Eastern districts. I 

 have received a few specimens from Mr. Atmore, procured in the 

 neighbourhood of Traka, in the Albert division, in August. 



The Sub-Family, PYRRHULIN^, or Bull- 

 finches, 



have the bill very short, strong, more or less compressed, 

 and entire, with the culmen arched and convex ; the wings 



