276 BIRDS OP TUNISIA 



of the arid mountains, and not found in the sandy desert or in the 

 Chott districts. The most northerly point in the Eegency where I 

 have found the species has been the neighbourhood of Feriana, where, 

 somewhat to my surprise, I one day met with two or three of these 

 birds on the banks of a Oued, or dry river-bed, just outside the village. 

 The ground here, I may observe, was very rugged and broken, and 

 just the sort of country this species delights in. On the spurs of all 

 the arid mountains and hills in the vicinity of Gafsa the species is 

 very abundant, and also apparently in the districts near Tatahouine. 



From Marocco I have no specimens either of this or of the 

 following species of Desert Lark, but probably both are to be found 

 in some of the more inland desert districts of that country. 



In Tripoli Mr. E. Dodson found A. d. algeriensis not uncommon 

 in some parts, and in the Wed-Agarib district in Cyrenaica he 

 obtained numerous examples of it, all of the same rufous shade of 

 colour found in North-west African birds. In the Soda range of 

 hills, the so-called " Black Mountains " of the Fezzan, the present form 

 is apparently not to be found, its place being taken by a darker and 

 greyer bird, which, after some hesitation, I decided to refer to 

 A. ijhoenicurdides (Horsf. and Moore), its plumage, though varying 

 somewhat in individuals, being on the whole like that of this Asiatic 

 form. Its measurements generally also agree with those of A. phoeni- 

 curoidcs, though in some cases, particularly as regards the proportions 

 of the bill, slightly exceeding them. Mr. Dodson appears to have met 

 with these Larks only in the Soda Mountains, and nowhere else in 

 the course of his journey. In his diary he wrote as follows regarding 

 the species : 



" The range of these birds seems to be confined exclusively to the 

 Soda Mountains ; they are only to be seen in the morning and after- 

 noon, and during the heat of the day rest under the shade of the 

 black boulders, which everywhere abound. It is probably the absence 

 of shade that limits their range. Unlike A. algeriensis, I have never 

 seen these birds taking long flights." 



During the spring, when my visits to South Tunisia have always 

 taken place, I have invariably found this Lark in pairs. At times it 

 is said to be found in small parties, but it is not, as a rule, a gregarious 

 species. The bird is by no means shy, and will allow one to approach 

 close to it, as it sits perched motionless on a rock or stone, for it 

 is emniently a rock-loving bird, and is nearly always to be found in 



