SPIZOCORYS CONIROSTRIS. 509 
The following desvription of the species isttaken from the Editor’s 
paper on the Larks of South Africa :— 
Adult female (one of the typical specimens).— Above fulvous 
brown, the feathers of the head and back blackish down their 
centres, which are very broad, the margins being sandy, more or less 
inclined to deeper rufous; all the plumes of the hind neck, rump, 
and upper tail-coverts, as well as a few of the dorsal feathers, 
broadly margined with greyish, producing a distinct ashy appear- 
ance ; wing-coverts brown, broadly margined with sandy buff, the 
lesser and median series so broadly as nearly to obscure the dark 
brown centres to the feathers, the greater coverts with a slight 
greyish shade on their outer margins; quills lighter brown, with a 
slight ashy shade, the feathers margined with sandy buff, paling on 
the extreme edge of the feather, the outer edge of the first primary 
sandy white for nearly the entire length of the quill; tail blackish, 
tipped with dull white, with ashy fulyous margins, broader on the 
centre feathers, which are paler and nearly uniform brown, the two 
outer feathers margined with sandy buff, occupying part of the inner 
web and the tip of the outermost ; a distinct line of white over and 
under the eye, with a small patch of blackish feathers in front of the 
latter ; ear-coverts brown, blackish on upper margin; cheeks white, 
washed with pale brown on hinder margin, and spotted with black, 
a narrow line of which runs from the gape to the ear-coverts ; throat 
pure white, with a few black spots on lower portion ; rest of under 
surface of body sandy rufous, paler and more fulvous on the lower 
abdomen, the fore neck and chest rather largely spotted with 
triangular spots of blackish brown; under wing-coyverts sandy 
buff, the lower series inclining to ashy, and resembling the inner 
lining of the wing. Total length, 4°7 inches ; culmen, 0°5; wing, 
3°0; tail, 1:75; tarsus, 0:75. 
Six specimens of this pretty little Lark are before us, and 
we appear to have the extremes of summer and winter plumage, 
with intermediate grades. For the determination of the species 
we have described one of the typical specimens in the British 
Museum, received in exchange from the Stockholm Museum ; 
but Mr. Gurney owns an example in still fuller plumage, the 
specimen figured (badly) in “The Ibis” for 1874. The general 
colour of this bird above is reddish sand colour, varied with 
