520 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
and making a sort of rattling sound.” In the Transvaal, states 
Mr. Ayres :—“ These Larks frequent principally the open country, 
and are tolerably plentiful to the west of Potchefstroom, between 
the Hartz and Vaal Rivers. They are found singly or in pairs, and 
are fond of sitting on any low bush to sun themselves, at the same 
uttering a rather loud whistle, pretty constantly repeated.” The 
late Mr. Frank Oates found the species at Tibaka’s Vley, a little 
to the south of the Zambesi. 
Mr. Andersson does not appear to have procured it in Damara 
Land, but Senor Anchieta found it very common at Quillengues 
from January to March, and also obtained it at Humbe on the 
Cunene River.* 
Adult male in summer plumage.—Above light fawn brown, all the 
feathers with a distinct blackish shaft-streak down the centre and 
margined with ashy fulvous; the rump slightly more ashy than the 
back, narrowly streaked with brown, the upper tail-coverts shading 
off into light fulyous and having dark brown shaft-stripes ; wing- 
eoverts fawn colour, darker brown in the centre of the feather, 
margined with fulyous and streaked with dark brown along the shaft, 
the greater coverts light rufous towards their tips; primary coverts 
rufous fawn, with narrow whitish margins; quills rufous fawn, 
gradually shading off into dark brown, which occupies about the 
terminal third of the quills, which are margined with ashy white or 
fawn colour; the secondaries brown, washed with fawn colour exter- 
nally, and broadly margined and tipped with ashy buff; tail dark 
brown, the feathers margined with ashy buff, especially the two 
centre ones, which are rufous fawn at base, extending some way up 
the margins of the feathers, a shade of the same colour extending 
over the other feathers near their base, the outer feather creamy buff 
on the outer web, the penultimate one narrowly margined externally 
with the same colour ; crown of head bright fawn colour, with a few 
narrow shaft-lines of dark brown, the forehead minutely streaked, 
giving it a certain obscurely mottled appearance ; lores and a rather 
broad eyebrow buffy white, as also the sides of the face, the cheeks 
and ear-coverts minutely spotted with dark brown, the ear-coverts 
washed with rufous, and inclining to dark brown on their upper 
* Professor Barboza du Bocage mentions a Lark from Caconda which he 
proposes to call WM. angolensis as being allied to M. africana, but, as yet, no 
detailed description has been published by him. 
sail 
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