( 42) 



single olil liii-fls. The yoiiiio; were nearly as large as their jiarciits, bnt tlie bill 

 much .smaller, with the ciittiii','' edges nearly smooth ; the feathers ol' the back had 

 very indistinct ashy tips, the sides of the head hud no black and were of a reddish 

 sand-colour, throat and abdomen creamy white, breast and sides sandy buff ; instead 

 of the black markings of the adult bird on the nnderside there are only indications 

 of two dark patches on the throat, the slaty bases showing through, and a few 

 indistinct slaty spots on the sides of the throat ; the secondaries are pale cinnamon 

 rufons ; the primaries have wide and sharply defined cinnaraon-bnff tips, the ends 

 of the secondaries are pale cinnamon-buff, not pnre white and less wide; rectriccs 

 less sharply marked. Old and young were heard to call "djiip, djiiii, djiip, djiiji, 

 djiip," somewhat plaintively ; and an old bird, while searching for its young, called 

 loudly Iniiht and tirrrrrrrrrr, only a few yards from me. 



0. •Calandrella brachydactyla brachydactyla (Leisl). 



Cf. Xnr. Zuul. .xviii. p. 48."). 



The first specimens were seen on March 7 and 8, north and sonth of 

 Ngonssa, north of Ouargla. Henceforth flocks of five or si.\ to twenty or thirty 

 were seen to March 2.*) (El-tJolea). After that we saw them only sporadically. 



A number were running about in the Oued Saret, lU8 km. sonth of El- 

 Golea, on Ai>ril :! ; small flocks were observed on Ajiril 9 and 11 ; one being 

 shot was so damaged tiiat we did not preserve it, but a note was made that 

 it belonged to the rufous-headed, sandy Algerian form. 



Koenig mentions this species from west of Gnerrara, where he saw it singly 

 and in pairs on Ajiril 24. We believe that we saw examples east of Gnerrara 

 in June. This would be the southernmost breeding-place in this part of Algeria. 



l'». 'Calandrella brachydactyla longipennis (Eversm ). 



Iliiilcrt. I'w/. /«(/. Fauna i. p. 21() j Xnr. Znol. xviii. p. 486. 



In the Oued Saret, on A]iril :{, two short-toed Larks, both females, were shot ; 

 one of these is a ty|iical sandy rufons-lieaded Algerian bird, while the other is 

 greyish, and agrees with the eastern form, V. b. lomjipenms. The wings (right and 

 left) measure 88 and isii mm., /.e. just as long as in the specimen of Calandrella 

 braclii/dactijla braclii/diu-ti/la shot in the same place. The wings of C. b. Inngi- 

 jieimis are, as a rule, not ;J to 5 mm. shorter (as stated in 17///. jml. Fauxa i. 

 ]i. 2l(i), but eipially as long, or a few millimetres longer. 



This is tlie third specimen of the eastern form known to us from Algeria. 



{Calandrella minor was not found in the Sahara, though possibly it might be 



in or near the Oued Ni;a.) 



11. Ammomanes deserti algeriensis Sharpe. 



Cf. Nov. Zoul. xviii. p. 4.S7. 



The typical alqt'riensis inhabits the northern liammada (stony desert) and 

 the southern slopes of the Atlas Monntains. In former years Mr. Hothschild 

 and I found it south to Kef-cl-Dor, l)etween Biskra and Tonggourt, and common 

 at Ghardaia. The wings of males measure generally from '.'7 to InO, exceptionally 

 (Biskra, where others are smaller) to 104 mm. 



