ALAUDINA. 277 
Genus, Pyrrhulauda, 4. Smith, 
Bill very. short, very stout, sides compressed ; tip entire; cul- 
men strongly arched; commissure straight; wings moderately 
long, broad and well developed, and the tertiaries lengthened, 
first quill very small, the four next equal and longest ; tail moder- 
ate, slightly forked ; tarsus short; toes small; hind-claw slightly 
lengthened and curved. 
Pyrrhulauda grisea, Scop. 
760.-—Jerdon’s Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 424 ; Butler, Guzerat ; 
Stray Feathers, Vol. III, p. 499 ; Deccan, Stray Feathers Vol. 
IX, p. 418; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 193 ; 
Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India ; Ibis, 1885, p. 130. 
THE BLACK-BELLIED FincH LARK. 
Dabbak Churi, Hin. 
Length, 5; expanse, 10 ; wing, 3 ; tail, 1:95; bill at front, 0°36. 
Bill pale horny ; irides dark-brown ; legs fleshy. 
Male : above pale brownish-grey, the feathers slightly cen- 
tred. darker, somewhat rufescent- on the back ; forehead and 
cheeks whitish ; wings and tail brown, the feathers all pale 
edged, and a deep brown or black band from the base of bill 
through the eyes, continued to the occiput ; chin and throat, sides 
of neck (extending at right angles behind the ear-coverts and 
thus taking the form of a cross), breast and lower parts deep 
chocolate-brown or black ; sides of breast, of abdomen, and the 
flanks, whitish, bordering the dark color: 
The female wants the black on the lower parts ;the plumage 
is darker, and more rufescent above ; the breast faintly streaked 
with brown,. and earthy on the flanks, sides of breast, and neck. 
She is a rather smaller bird measuring only 4°75 inches in 
length. 
The Black-bellied Finch Lark is a common permanent resident 
throughout the region, breeding the whole year through. 
The nest, which is a mere pad of grass, is placed in a depression 
on the ground. The eggs, two in number, rarely three, are mode- 
rately elongated ovals in shape, of a greenish or yellowish-white 
color, densely speckled and spotted with various shades of 
yellowish and earthy-brown. They measure 0°73 by 0°55. 
Pyrrhulauda melanauchen, Cad. 
760b¢s.—Murray’s Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 193. 
THE BLACK-NECKED FincH Lark. 
Length, 5:4 to 6-1 ; expanse, 9°6 to 10°1; wing, 3:02 to 3:2 ; tail, 
2°0 to 2:2 ; tarsus, 06 to 0°7 ; bill at gape, 0°47 to 05. 
Bill pearly-white to whity-brown ; irides brown ; legs pale 
whity-brown to pale fleshy-brown. 
“ The ‘male has a broad frontal band, cheeks, ear-coverts, and 
a band from these round the base of the occiput and a large 
