102 AMMOMANES CINCTURA 



in desert sandy localities. It is usually met with in flocks of 

 from three to seven individuals, or in company with another 

 small Lark {Pijrrhulauda nigriceps, Gld,). During my sojourn 

 in the island I collected about twenty-five specimens, all of 

 which differed somewhat in tint of plumage. In March I 

 obtained several young birds, which resembled the old ones, 

 but had a tendency to become spotted on the breast and 

 sides of the head. The breeding season is from December to 

 March, but I never succeeded in finding a nest. It feeds on 

 seeds and insects, and in the stomachs of most of those I 

 examined I found seeds, the remains of termites, and small 

 coleoptera. The song is weak, and resembles rather the 

 warbling of the Whitethroat than the notes of a true Lark. 

 Like the latter, it rises to some elevation in the air, though 

 rarely above about thirty or forty feet. Its native name is 

 Pastor. On the other islands I never met with it." 



Regarding this species in Santiago, Mr. Boyd Alexander 

 writes : " By no means plentiful, and locally distributed on 

 the stretches of high table land near the sea. More than a 

 week elapsed before we noticed this species, and then only 

 two birds, on a piece of loose gravelly land near Praya. This 

 pair had a nest containing one young bird, almost fledged. 

 On approaching the nest the two old birds, which were not 

 far off, ran at a rapid rate towards their young one, the male 

 bird uttering the whole time a plaintive ' tvlieet.' Though we 

 discovered more of this species later on, I never heard them 

 utter more than this one note. They were always seen either 

 singly or in pairs. Seven specimens were obtained." While 

 at Sal, the most north-eastern island of the group, he found 

 this Lark on the flat stony portions in considerable numbers, 

 and two nests were discovered, each containing one young one. 

 He also found the species plentiful at Boavista. 



