MOTACILLID.E MACRONYX 239 



Habits. The well known " Cut-throat Lark " is, in the Colony, 

 found most abundantly on grassy plains that are dotted over with 

 clumps of bushes or low trees, for notwithstanding their long hind- 

 claws, these Pipits usually seek refuge on the tops of trees or bushes 

 when alarmed. They fly rather slowly but with rapid beats of 

 their wings, uttering as they go what Layard aptly calls a " mew- 

 ing " note that reminds one of the cry of a kitten. During the 

 breeding season the males sing a few bars in a curiously hurried 

 manner as they hover over their sitting mates. These Pipits 

 appear to remain in^pairs all the year round and never to congregate 

 in flocks although for a few weeks in autumn the newly flown 

 young remain with their parents. They feed principally on insects, 

 such as small beetles, grasshoppers, termites, and various larvae ; 

 occasionally they take a few grass- and other small seeds. The 

 nest is artfully concealed in a hollow under the grass, and is a 

 cup-shaped structure built of dry grass and root fibres. The eggs, 

 laid in October or November, are from three to five in number, 

 cream-coloured, closely spotted and speckled with various shades 

 of brown and purple. They average 1-05 x O77. 



136. Macronyx croceus. Yelloio- throated Long-claw. 



Alauda crocea, Vieill. N. Diet, i, p. 365 (1816). 



Macronyx flavigaster, Swains. B. W. Afr. i. p. 215 (1837) ; Jard. and 



Selby, III. Orn., new series, i, pi. 22 (1838). 

 Anthus flavigaster, Gray, Gen. B. i, p. 206 (1848) ; Layard, B. S. Afr. 



p. 121 (1867). 

 Macronyx croceus, Hartl. Beitr. Orn. W.-Afr. p. 23 (1844) ; Sharpe, 



Cat. B. M. x, p. 626 (1885) ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 13 (1896). 

 Macronyx striolatus, Heugl. Jour. f. Orn. 1863, p. 164 ; Sharpe, ed. 



Layard's B. S. Afr. p. 532 (1884). 



" Cut-throat Lark" of Natal Colonists. 

 "Kalkoentje" (Little Turkey) of the Dutch. 



Description. Adult male in summer. Above, pale brown, the 

 feathers centred with black ; wing-coverts like the back ; quills 

 dark brown, the primaries edged externally with yellow, the sec- 

 ondaries with light fulvous ; tail-feathers blackish-brown, all but 

 the two centre ones tipped with white the amount of which 

 increases towards the outermost which has the outer web entirely 

 white ; crown like the back ; eyebrow yellow ; ear-coverts brown ; 

 cheeks, throat, breast and abdomen lemon-yellow, the throat 



