228 ALAUDID^: AL^MON 



Genus X. AL^EMON. 



Type. 

 Alaemon, Keyserling and Blasius, Wirbelth Eur., p. 36 



(1840) A. alaudipes. 



Bill elongated, curved, tapering, moderately strong ; nostrils oval, 

 placed in the anterior portion of the nasal membrane ; wings long, 

 the first quill not much longer than the coverts, the second shorter 

 than the sixth, the third and fourth about equal and longest ; tail 

 moderately long, nearly even ; tarsi long, rather slender ; toes rather 

 short, claws short and curved, the hind claw longer but curved. 



The four species included in the genus Alcemon are natives of 

 Africa. Two occur in South Africa. 



The Curved or Long-billed Larks are inhabitants of open plains, 

 barren karroos, and deserts; the South African species of grass- 

 lands and rocky hill-sides as well. These Larks seek for their food, 

 consisting of insects and small seeds, on the ground. They run 

 with extreme rapidity, and only occasionally perch on bushes. 

 Their nests are cup-shaped, built on the ground in a slight depres- 

 sion of dry grass and occasionally a few hairs. Their eggs, from 

 two to four in number, are whitish rather thinly spotted, and some- 

 times zoned, with purplish brown of two shades. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Larger ; wing 3 f 70 to 4'40 ; culmen 0*75 to 



0'95 ; breast thinly marked with small spots A. semitorquata, p. 228. 



b. Smaller ; wing 3'30 to 3'60 ; culmen 0'65 to 



0'75; breast marked with larger spots A. nivosa, p. 230. 



131. Alaemon semitorquata. .Grey-collared Lark. 



Certhilauda semitorquata, Smith, Sep. Exp. Centr. 4fr- 1836, p. 47 i 

 id. III. Zool. S. Afr. pi. 106, fig. 2 (1846) ; Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 216 

 (1867) ; Gurney in Andersson's B. Damara Land, p. 201 (1872). 



Certhilauda subcoronata, Smith, III. Zool. S. Afr. pi. 90, fig. 2 (1843) ; 

 Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 217 (1867). 



Certhilauda coronata, Layard, Ibis, 1869, p. 371. 



Aleemon semitorquata, Sliarpe, P. Z. S. 1874, p. 620 ; id. ed. Layard' s 

 B. S. Afr. p. 469 (1884) ; id. Cat. B. M. xiii, p. 521 (1890) ; Shelley, B. 

 Afr. i, p. 14 (1896). 



Description. Adult male in summer. Above, bright brown 

 streaked with black, darker on the crown, the hind neck with a 

 tinge of grey ; least wing-coverts more distinctly streaked ; greater 



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