276 ALAUDIN.E. 



fourth, which are the longest, fifth is nearly equal ; tertiaries 

 not elongated beyond the secondaries ; tail rather long, slightly 

 tfinarginate ; tarsus and feet moderate ; hind-claw large. 



Ammomanes phcenicura, Franklin. 



758. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 421 ; Butler, Guzerat; 

 Stray Feathers, Vol. Ill, p. 499 ; Deccan, Stray Feathers, Vol. 

 IX, p. 418 ; Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India ; Ibis, 1885, 

 p. 129. 



THE EUFOUS-TAILED FINCH LARK. 



Length, 6'5 ; wing, 4'2 ; tail, 2*4. 



Bill horny-brown, fleshy at base beneath ; irides brown ; legs 

 fleshy. 



Plumage above ashy-brown, with a rufescent tinge ; rump, base 

 of tail, the inner webs of the quills, and the tail-feathers, dark 

 rufous or dull ferruginous ; the quills and tip of the tail dark- 

 brown, lower parts of the same ferruginous hue, but paler on 

 the throat and lower tail-coverts, and with a few dusky streaks 

 on the breast ; extremity of the lower tail-coverts with a dusky 

 spot. 



With the exception of Sind, the Rufous-tailed Finch Lark is 

 a common permanent resident throughout the region, breeding 

 during April and May. The nests are placed in deep cavities, 

 formed by clods of earth on ploughed or broken ground, and 

 are mere pads formed of soft grass, occasionally lined with hairs. 

 The eggs, usually four in number (I once found five), are moder- 

 ately broadish ovals in shape, and vary much in color, but the 

 usual type is yellowish- white, thickly freckled and spotted with 

 reddish or yellowish-brown, with pale underlying spots of inky 

 purple. They average 0*85 inches in length by 0'62 in breadth. 



Ammomanes deserti, Liclu. 



759. A. lusitanica, Gm. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, 

 p. 422 ; A. lusitania, Gm. ; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, 

 p. 192. 



THE PALE RUFOUS FINCH LARK. 



Length, 6 ; wing, 4 ; tail, 275 ; tarsus, 0'9. 



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

 brown. 



Affined to A. phoenicura, but the general hue is less rufescent ; 

 upper parts dull sandy grey-brown ; the wing-coverts dark shafted ; 

 the under parts fulvous-grey, or isabelline, albescent on the 

 throat, and with a few faint dusky striaB on the breast ; tail brown, 

 faintly rufescent at its extreme base, and on the outer web of 

 the outermost feathers ; broad margins to the inner webs of the 

 primaries and secondaries with the axillaries also pale rufescent. 



The Pale Rufous Finch Lark is very common in Sind, fre- 

 quenting bare stony hills and plains. 



