ALAUDA ARVENSIS 269 



I have several examples of this rufous form of small-billed Crested 

 Lark. 



I have no knowledge of its occurrence in either Algeria or Marocco. 



In its habits and life generally G. t. Carolina apparently differs 

 in no way from the preceding subspecies. 



Its nest and eggs also, presumably, are the same as those of that 

 bird. 



ALAUDA ARVENSIS, Linnaeus. 

 SKY-LAEK. 



Alauda arvensis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 287 (1766) ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds 

 Brit. Mus. xiii, p. 567; Malherbe, Cat. Rais. d'Ois. Alg. p. 11 (1846); 

 Loche, Expl. Sci. Alcj. Ois. ii, p. 28 (1867) ; Koenig, J. f. 0. 1888, 

 p. 219 ; id. J. f. 0. 1893, p. 37 ; Whitaker, Ibis, 1895, p. 102 ; 

 JErlanger, J. f. 0. 1899, p. 353. 



Description. — Adult male, winter, from Tunis, North Tunisia. 



Upper parts brown, the feathers with blackish centres and fulvous-buff 

 margins, nape and mantle lighter than the rest of the upper plumage ; crown 

 with a short though full crest ; lores and superciliaries buff-white ; quills 

 dark-brown, narrowly bordered with whitish ; bastard primary very small ; 

 tail blackish-brown, the middle pair of rectrices bordered with buff, the 

 exterior pair almost entirely white, and the next pair with their outer webs 

 white ; underparts buff-white ; the throat with minute spots extending 

 from the base of the bill downwards ; the breast streaked with dark brown ; 

 sides and flanks dusky brown, with a few dark brown streaks. 



Iris dark brown ; bill dark brown, paler below ; feet yellowish-brown. 



Total length 7 inches, wing 4'50, culmen -50, tarsus 1. 



Adult female resembles the male, but is rather smaller. 



Observations. — Examples of this species exhibit a considerable amount 

 of individual variation, not only in coloration but also in size. One of 

 the smallest specimens I have seen is in the Florence Museum ; it is a 

 female, and its wing measurement is only 3'40 inches ; its bill is large for 

 the size of the bird, being about the normal length of that of A. arvensis. 

 This is the specimen alluded to by Professor Giglioli (Avif. Ital. p. 67), 

 and for which he suggested the name of Alauda nana, should further 

 examples of it be forthcoming, to establish its identity. 



" Sports," or abnormally coloured examples, of the Sky-Lark are frequent, 

 cases of albinism, melanism, and isabellinism all occurring h-om time to 



