MIRAFRA. 675 
into a zone round the middle of the shell; in the other two they are 
pretty equally scattered over the whole shell. Measurements 21 mm. by 
16 mm.” 
A set of two eggs is “Much like the above and equally spotted all 
over, but the over-markings are of a more yellowish brown. Measure- 
ments 22 mm. by 15 mm. 
“This lark was nesting in an open bit of country thinly covered with 
tufts of grass, beneath which the nests were concealed. Fully fledged 
young birds of this species were also observed on the same date.” (Grant 
and Whitehead.) 4 
Genus MIRAFRA Horsfield, 1821. 
Bill very stout, almost finch-like, its depth at nostril almost as great 
as its length from nostril and equal to about two-thirds of the hind 
claw ; nostrils exposed ; rictal bristles short ; tertials shorter than second- 
aries; first primary equal to one-third of the second, the latter about 
equal to the third, fourth, and fifth; hallux slightly shorter than its 
claw. . 
690. MIRAFRA PHILIPPINENSIS Ramsay. 
PHILIPPINE BUSH LARK, 
Mirafra philippinensis Ramsay, Ibis (1886), 160; SHARPE, Cat. Birds Brit. 
Mus. (1890), 13, 605; WuHiITrEHEAD, Ibis (1899), 243; McGregor and 
WORCESTER, Hand-List (1906), 103. 
Luzon (Heriot, Méllendorff, Steere: Exp., McGregor, Whitehead) ; Mindanao 
(Mearns) ; Mindoro (McGregor). 
Adult.—Upper parts blackish brown, streaked with ochraceous-buft ; 
superciliary line from bill to nape dark buff; cheeks and ear-coverts buff, 
speckled with black; chin and throat cream-buff; remainder of under 
parts dull ochraceous-buff, darker across the chest which is marked with 
small dusky spots; wing-feathers dark brown; quills ochraceous-buff on 
inner webs; primaries and their coverts edged with rusty buff on outer 
webs; secondaries and coverts edged with ochraceous-buff on outer webs ; 
tertials edged with buff on both webs; outermost pair of rectrices with 
outer webs and most of the inner webs white; next pair with outer webs 
white half way to the shaft. Iris hght brown; bill horn-color, lighter on 
lower mandible; feet and nails light flesh-color. A male from Luzon meas- 
ures: Length, 140; wing, 70; tail, 46; culmen from base, 12; depth of 
bill at nostril, 65; tarsus, 21; hind toe with claw, 16. A female, wing, 
68; tail, 42; culmen from base, 12; depth of bill at nostril, 6: tarsus, 
21; hind toe with claw, 15. 
In young birds in fresh plumage the feathers of the back are rounded 
at the tips and fringed with ochraceous-buff, and the spots on the chest 
are larger. 
