308 ANTHUS PYRRHONOTUS 



mandible dusky and the lower one pale brown ; iris dark brown ; legs pale 

 brown. Total length 6-6 inches, culmen 0'55, wing 3-55 and 3-8, tail 2-5 

 and 2-7, tarsus 1-15 and T05, hind toe 0-4, hind claw - 55 and 0-45. 

 Pinetown, $ , 25. 4. 72 and ? , 30. 6. 72 (T. L. Ayres). 



Immature. Differs in the upper parts being blacker with narrow buff 

 edges to all the feathers ; crop more strongly spotted with black ; pale 

 pattern of the tail more strongly marked and very variable. The last 

 feathers of the immature plumage to be discarded are those of the lower 

 back. 



Subspecies a. 



Type of A. cjouldi. Exactly like the specimens of A. pyrrlionotus above 

 described in colouring, but differs in the hind claw being much shorter. 

 Total length 6'7 inches, culmen 0-55, wing 3-7, tail 2-8, tarsus 1-0, hind 

 toe 0-4, hind claw 0-35. Cape Palmas (Fraser). 



Immature. Differs in plumage from the adult only in having all the 

 feathers of the crown and back rather blacker and narrowly edged with 

 buff. " Iris crimson orange, bill brown, lower mandible pinky white, feet 

 dusky white." Nandi, 9. 4. 98 (Jackson). 



Anthus pyrrlwnotus, the Cape Plain-backed Pipit, inhabits 

 South Africa south from Damaraland and Nyasaland. 



To the south of the Cunene river Andersson found them 

 widely distributed over both Damaraland and Great Namaqua- 

 land. Layard writes : " This Pipit, the ' Bnkelde Leecuwerk ' 

 of the Dutch colonists, is by far the commonest of the South 

 African species. It is found all over the colony." There are 

 specimens in the British Museum from Damaraland, Cape 

 Town, Swellendam, Knysua, Colesberg, Port Elizabeth, 

 Grahamstown, Kingwilliamstown, Pine Town, Mashonaland 

 and Nyasaland. This is all I know with regard to its range, 

 and it is strange to find this form apparently entirely replaced 

 by A. vaalensis from Bushman's river in central Natal to the 

 Limpopo. 



According to Stark : " Its flight is low and undulating. 

 Its call-note is a weak chirp. In summer the cock sings 

 prettily from the top of a bush or ant-hill. These Pipits 

 feed almost entirely on insects. They build about the end 



