PYRRHULAUDA. 341 



lower throat ; remainder of lower plumage fulvous grey, with a few 

 brown streaks on the breast ; under wing-coverts and auxiliaries 

 rufous. 



Bill dusky above, yellowish beneath ; feet pale yellow-brown 

 (Jcrdon). 



Length about 7 ; tail 2-6 ; wing 4-1 ; tarsus -9 ; bill from 

 gape '65. 



Distribution. A permanent resident throughout Bind and the 

 northern part of the Punjab, ranging west to the Persian Gulf. 



Habits, <fr. Breeds in April, May, and June, making its nest on 

 the ground and surrounding it with a circle of small pieces of 

 stone. The eggs, three or four in number, resemble those of 

 A. plicenicura and measure about *83 by *6. 



Genus PYRRHULAUDA, Smith, 1839. 



The genus Pyrrhulauda contains those Finch-Larks in which 

 the sexes are very different, the males being black beneath and the 

 females rufous or white. 



In Pyrrhulauda the bill is very short and deep, with the culmen 

 well rounded ; the nostrils are densely covered with plumelets ; 

 the wing has ten primaries, the first very small and not exceeding 

 the primary-coverts, the second reaching to the tip of the wing ; 

 the hind claw is very short and curved. 



The Larks of this genus affect open country and they take short 

 nights, ascending and descending suddenly. They occasionally 

 perch on houses and trees. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Lower surface blackish. 



a. Forehead and crown ashy brown, 



margined with pale grey P. grisea tf , p. 341. 



//. Forehead white, crown blackish .... P. melanauchen tf , p. 343. 



b. Lower plumage pale rufous or whitish. 

 c'. General aspect of upper plumage 



brown ; wing 2'9 P. yrisea $ , p. 341. 



d'. General aspect of upper plumage 



sandy ; wing 3'1 or 3-2 P. melanauchen <j> , p. 343. 



879. Pyrrhulauda grisea. The Ashy-crowned Finch-Lark. 



Alauda grisea, Scop. Del. Flor. et Faun. Insubr. ii, p. 95 (1786). 



Pyrrhulauda grisea (Scop.}, Blyth, Cat. p. 134 ; Horsf. $ M. Cat. ii, 

 p. 479 ; Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 424 ; Hume, N. # E. p. 479 ; Batt, S. F. vii, 

 p. 223 ; id.Cat. no. 760 ; Legge, Birds Ceyl. p. 637 ; Barnes, Birds 

 Bom. p. 277 ; Sharpc, Cat. B. M. xiii, p. 652 ; Oates in Hume's 

 N. S? E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 2-l:J. 



