AMMOMANES PHCENICUROIDES 97 



extending aci'oss to the shaft. This latter character distinguishes the 

 Asiatic from the purely African species of Ammomancs. Total length G'3 

 inches, culmenO'45, wing 3-8 and 3'65, tail 2-6 and 2-3, tarsus 0-85 and 0-80. 

 <? , Somali (Hawker). 



Bl^'th's Desert- Lark ranges from Somaliland into 

 Afghanistan and N.W. India. 



This species was nlready known to range from India to 

 the Arabian coast, so that one cannot be much surprised to 

 find it invading the Somali country ; but it remained for Mr. 

 Elliot to first record the species from the African continent, 

 which lie did under the name of A. akelei/i. He remarks : 

 " I do not remember seeing it beyond Hillier on the plateau, 

 and we first met with it at our second camp from Berbera." 

 About the same place Mr. Lort Phillips obtained a specimen in 

 January ; Mr. Hawker has collected three others at Laferug and 

 Mandera in November, and Mr. A. B. Pease shot one of these 

 Larks in the latter month at Somado and another at Lasmaru 

 in April, so that it cannot be considered as a mere straggler 

 to Africa. On comparing four of these skins from Somaliland 

 with the fine series of specimens from India in the British 

 Museum, there remains no doubt in my mind that A. aJceleyi 

 is the same species as A. phoenicuroides (Blyth). 



This Lark may be readily distinguished from all its African 

 allies, not only by its pale ashy brown colouring, but also by 

 the pale portions of the primaries never extending entirely 

 across the outer web of any of them. 



The two males from which I have taken my description, 

 one from India and the other from Somaliland, are identical 

 in colouring and show no appreciable difference in the 

 measurements. 



May, 1902. 



