CALANDRELLA BRACHYDACTYLA ITALA 281 



CALANDRELLA BRACHYDACTYLA ITALA (Biehm). 

 RUFOUS-HEADED SHORT-TOED LARK. 



Melanocorypha itala, Brehm, Vdg. Deutschl. p. 311 (1831). 

 Calandrella brachydaotyla itala, Erlanger, J. f. 0. 1899, p. 355. 



Description. — Adult male, spring, from Bir-Abdullah, South Tunisia. 



Forehead and crown pale rufous, the feathers of the binder part with 

 darker centres ; lores and superciliary stripe whitish ; rest of upper plumage 

 yellowish-sandy-brown, streaked with darker brown, excepting the rump 

 and upper tail-coverts, which are unstreaked ; central tail-feathers yellowish- 

 brown, with dark shaft-streaks, rest of tail-feathers dark brown, slightly 

 margined externally with whitish, except the outer pair, which are almost 

 entirely white ; primaries dull brown, fringed with yellowish ; underparts 

 white, slightly washed on the breast and flanks with yellowish ; a con- 

 spicuous black patch on each side of lower neck. 



Iris hazel ; bill and feet pale brown. 



Total length 5-60 inches, wing 3"80, cuhnen -45, tarsus -80. 



Adult female, spi-ing, from El-Hamra, Central Tunisia. Similar to the 

 male, but rather smaller, the wing measuring only 3'65 inches. 



Most ornithologists are opposed to the idea of separating what may 

 be called the rufous-headed form of Short-toed Lark from the typical 

 brown-headed C. hrachijdactyla (Leisl.), and the advisability of doing 

 so is no doubt open to question. Considering, however, that the 

 character of the rufous crown appears to be constant in birds from 

 certain localities, and that in addition to possessing that character, 

 these birds differ also from the typical or brown-headed form in their 

 coloration generally, I am inclined to separate the two forms sub- 

 specifically. I have before me a large series of Short-toed Larks from 

 different parts of Europe and North Africa, as well as some from 

 Abyssinia. The Tunis birds (with the single exception referred to in 

 the preceding article), in addition to a clear rufous crown, have a 

 distinct yellowish tinge in their upper plumage, while their under- 

 parts are pure white. Birds from North-east Africa and most parts of 

 South-east Europe, besides lacking the rufous crown, are distinctly 

 greyer above and of a duller white below. The Abyssinian birds are 

 most like those from Tunis in their general colouring, but they lack 

 the rufous crown. In their respective measurements there is not 



