260 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



In the Ibis for 1895 (p. 99) I stated that I considered the small- 

 billed Crested Lark commonly found in North Tunisia referable to 

 G. tIteklcB (Brehm), being almost identical with examples of that 

 species from South Spain. 



I had not at that time read Brehm's article on the genus Galerida 

 in " Naumannia," 1858 (pp. 204-213), in which the author treats of the 

 various species and subspecies, or forms of Crested Larks recognised 

 by him. The conclusions at which he arrives regarding the specific 

 distinctness of his Galerida theklce from Galerida cristata (L.) are 

 undoubtedly quite correct, and I agree entirely with him therein, 

 indeed, one almost feels inclined to go still further, and to separate 

 G. thekloi from G. cristata not only specifically, but even generically. 



Dr. Sharpe (Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xiii, p. 633), very rightly recog- 

 nised the validity of Brehm's species, according it full specific rank. 

 There is, indeed, not the slightest doubt that G. theklce is a very good 

 species, differing structurally, as well as in other ways, from G. cristata 

 (L.) and its allies, and forming a group of its own, the members of 

 which, so far as is at present known, occur in the Iberian Peninsula, 

 the Balearic Islands, and North Africa, including Abyssinia and 

 Somaliland. 



As Brehm has pointed out, and as already stated in my general 

 remarks on the genus Galerida, the Crested Larks of the short-billed, 

 or what may be called the Theklce group, differ from those of the long- 

 billed, or G. cristata, group in many respects. To the characters 

 already enumerated may be added, in the particular case of the present 

 form, that its plumage coloration generally is darker, and its marking 

 more clearly defined, especially that of the breast, which, moreover, 

 often has a yellow tinge, never noticeable in birds of the G. cristata 

 group. In its habits and in its habitat it also differs, being far less 

 shy than G. cristata, and frequenting hilly and broken country as much 

 or more than plains and open country, as is the case with the latter. 



According to Brehm (Naum. 1858, p. 213), two forms of this 

 small-billed and very distinct Crested Lark occur in Spain, and he 

 distinguished them by the names of Galerifa theklce major and 

 Galerita theklce minor, one being larger and the other smaller in 

 size. Beyond mentioning this difference in size, Brehm tells us little 

 to help us to distinguish the two subspecies, but in any case it is 

 clear that he met with a larger and a smaller form of small-billed 

 Crested Lark, and named each separately as above. 



