38 MIRAFRA NiEVIA. 



T. E Buckley's collecting from the Transvaal and Swaziland 

 in the British Museum, and he writes : '•' These birds are very- 

 common north of Pretoria, sitting on bushes quite as much as 

 on the ground ; they are mostly solitary, even a pair being 

 rarely seen together excepting in the breeding season. They 

 range as far as the Matabele country." Mr. T. Ayres found 

 these Larks in the Mariqua district, frequenting the open 

 glades at the commencement of the thicker bush, but in the 

 latter he did not notice them. When disturbed they generally 

 flew from the ground on to the nearest shrub. It has a short 

 but pleasing song. He also procured specimens in the Rusten- 

 burg district, and found them " rather common amongst the 

 thorn-trees on the banks of the Limpopo, where they occur 

 either singly or in pairs." To the north of that river, at 

 Matje Umschlope, he only met with a single specimen in 

 November, and the late Mr. Frank Gates obtained one at 

 Tati in October. 



Mirafra nsevia. (PL 15, fig. 2.) 



Alauda nsevia, Strickl. Contr. Orn. 1852, p. 152 Damara. 



Mirafra nsevia (Strickl.) Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii. p. 617 (1890) Damara, 



Great Namaqua, Griqualand, Orange Biver Colony ; Fleck J. f. O. 



1894, p. 411 Damara, Shelley, 5. Afr. I. No. 213 (1896) ; Stark, 



Faun. S. Afr. B. i. p. 209 (1900). 



Adult. Very like il/. sabota, but paler and with a larger bill. Above 

 sandy brown with broad dark brown shaft-bands ; the pale edges to the 

 wing-coverts and inner secondaries very much broader than those of the 

 other quills and primary-coverts ; primaries with narrow white terminal 

 edges ; no rufous on the wings, which have the under surface pale dusky 

 brown slightly washed with sandy buff on the inner margins of the quills 

 and the coverts are mottled with edges of that colour. Tail brownish black 

 with the centre feathers rather paler and very broadly edged with pale rufous 

 brown ; outer feather with a buff margin extending about half way across 

 the outer web, and round the end, all the other feathers have buff margins, 

 narrower along the sides than at the ends. Ear-coverts brown slightly 



