AMMOMANES DESERTI ALGERIENSIS 275 



grey ; rest of underparts pale greyish isabelline, flanks aud inside of wings 

 rufescent. 



Iris very dark hazel ; bill greenish-yellow above and yellowish below ; 

 feet light brown. 



Total length 6-75 inches, wing 4, eulmen '50, tarsus '80. 



Adult female similar in plumage to the male, but rather smaller, the 

 wing measurement averaj;ing about 3'75 inches. 



The members of the genus Ammomanes occurring m the Western 

 Palsearctic region form two distinct groups, which may be at once 

 distinguished from each other by their greater or lesser size, and by 

 the presence or absence of a black band at the tip of the tail. A 

 representative of each group is to be found in the Tunisian Eegency, 

 both being non-migratory, and inhabiting more or less desert regions, 

 although, not as a rule, the sandy desert, as the generic name of the 

 bird vi'ould lead one to suppose. 



The larger of the two species, which is without the dark tail-band, 

 occurs in suitable localities throughout North-west Africa generally, 

 and has no doubt rightly been distinguished from typical A. deserti 

 (Licht.) from North-east Africa, on account of its more rufous 

 coloration, but as the difference is merely one of tone or shade of 

 colouring, a subspecific distinction appears to be quite sufdcient. 



The difference in colour seems to be fairly constant, so far as 

 North-west African birds are concerned, though not entirely so as 

 regards North-east African birds, examples from some of the more 

 desert districts of the latter country being less grey than those from 

 other parts, and resembling specimens from North-west Africa in 

 colour. 



Some examples of this Lark from Palestine are still greyer than 

 those from most parts of North-east Africa, and are, in fact, distinctly 

 mouse-coloured. They seem also to be slightly smaller, and to have 

 smaller bills. Canon Tristram has separated the Palestine Desert 

 Larks into two species, referring one to A. deserti (Licht.), and calling 

 the other A. fraterculus, Tristr. 



There is no doubt that the present species is subject to considerable 

 variation in its coloration, according to the locality it inhabits, and 

 besides this, there is a certain amount of individual variation, though 

 not to any great extent. 



A. d. algeriensis is fairly widely distributed throughout South 

 Tunisia, but restricted to the stony desert plains and the rocky slopes 



