( 43 ) 



Ammomanes deserti algeriensis > mya. 



A i>air from Safet-Ini.iuel, 30 km. north of EI-Golca. shot on March 23, 

 measure : 6 102, ? 95 mm. Their bills are hirger than iu regular alf/eriensis 

 from Biskra, El-Kantara, Ghardaia, Tunisia. A male from Kef-el-Dor, 18. iv. 

 V:m), has the bill as long and almost as strong as in A. d. iivj<(, while the wing 

 measures 09 mm. or a little more, being somewhat worn. Three specimens from the 

 hammada between Ghardaia and El-Golea {S 20 km. sonth of Ghavdaia, 28. v., 

 S 25 km. south of Ghardaia, 27. v., S 55 km. north of El-Golea, 20. v.) have bills 

 larger, especially thicker, than usually seen in .1. d. algeriensis, 17—18-5 mm. 

 in fength, and wings of 98 to 100 mm. _ 



It is therefore reasonable to sniipose that Amimmam^f deserti algeriensis, in 

 its southernmost localities, leans towards the southern Ainmnmanes deserti mfja, 

 at least in the form of the bill, and this is best expressed by the usual formula, 

 A. d. alqcrh'ims> mya. 



12. Ammomanes deserti mya Hart. 



Am,nomanc. de.erli nuja Hartert, An,,. <f- .l/»r/. A'". W^'. -^er. S. vol. x. p. 230 (August 11112- 

 Oued Mya). 



After leaving the rocks called Safet-Iniquel, about 30 km. north of El-Golea, 

 on March 23, no° Ammomanes were met with until we came to the Oued Saret, 

 a sandy river-bed separated in some places from the surrounding hammada by 

 low cliffs This is a distance of 138 km. from Safet-Ini.pKd, and the latter is 

 an isolated outpost for A. d. algeriensis, while north of the Oued Saret there was 

 no si^n of .-1 d mya. Naturally, as soon as a desert-lark so far south, m a new 

 locality, was seen, a few were procured, and we were at once struck by the si^e 

 of the beaks. Afterwards this same form was again found at Fort Miribel an.l 

 in all the affluents of the southernmost Oued Mya and in the latter itselt ; also 

 in the gorge of the Ain Guettara, and on the slopes of the Tademait, 2 or 3 km. 



south of Ain Guettara. 



In the Oued Mya region this lark was .luite common. W hat struck me most 

 was the different, "louder and deeper call-note (dyiip, dyiip), and the diilerent 

 son.'. Instead of the monotonous '• djirreii, djirreii, djirreii " of .1. d alger>ams, 

 it sang like "tirrhuit, tirrriir, tirrriir, djiarriir, djiarriir," the various notes not all 

 alike, but different and variously modulated. 



In colour the two allied forms vary very little, but generally .1. d. mya is less 

 reddish, especially on the rump and upper wing-coverts, and there is more black 

 on the inner webs of the rectrices ; in size, however, the differences are striking 

 A. d. m>ja being much larger: wings of males 107-111, females 9.-101, tail 

 about 74— 76-5, bill much thicker and longer, 18-20, once 20-9 mm. 



We found a number of nests of this Lark. They were placed m shallow 

 holes on the rocks along the banks of tbe river-beds, an.l had a long wall ot 

 stones, like the nests of Oenanthe lencara syenitica and leiwopyya. Unfortunately, 

 in spite of the greatest efforts, we found no eggs ; most of the iemales seemed 

 to lay later, but others must have had eggs. 



13. Ammomanes phoenicurus arenicolor (Snnd.). 



Of. N;,: Zi,nl. xviii. p. 487. 



Like Koenig years ago, and Mr. IJothschild and myself in 1909, we f..un, 

 this graceful little' Lark soon after Bordj Ghegga on the stony plam mterm.xe.l 



