ALAUDIN^E. 277 



GENUS, Pyrrhulauda, A. Smith. 



Bill very short, very stout, sides compressed ; tip entire ; cul- 

 men strongly arched ; commissure straight ; wings moderately 

 long, broad and well developed, and the tertiaries lengthened, 

 first quill very small, the four next equal and longest ; tail moder- 

 ate, slightly forked ; tarsus short ; toes small ; hind-claw slightly 

 lengthened and curved. 



Pyrrhulauda grisea, Scop. 



760. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 424 ; Butler, Guzerat ; 

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

 IX, p. 418; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 193 ; 

 Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India ; Ibis, 1885, p. 130. 



THE BLACK-BELLIED FINCH LARK. 

 Dabbak Churi, Hin. 



Length, 5 ; expanse, 10 ; wing, 3 ; tail, T95 ; bill at front, 0'36. 



Bill pale horny ; irides dark-brown ; legs fleshy. 



Male : above pale brownish-grey, the feathers slightly cen- 

 tred darker, somewhat rufescent on the back ; forehead and 

 cheeks whitish ; wings and tail brown, the feathers all pale 

 edged, and a deep brown or black band from the base of bill 

 through the eyes, continued to the occiput ; chin and throat, sides 

 of neck (extending at right angles behind the ear-coverts and 

 thus taking the form of a cross), breast and lower parts deep 

 chocolate-brown or black ; sides of breast, of abdomen, and the 

 flanks, whitish, bordering the dark color. 



The female wants the black on the lower parts ; the plumage 

 is darker, and more rufescent above ; the breast faintly streaked 

 with brown, and earthy on the flanks, sides of breast, and neck. 

 She is a rather smaller bird measuring only 4 75 inches in 

 length. 



The Black-bellied Finch Lark is a common permanent resident 

 throughout the region, breeding the whole year through. 



The nest, which is a mere pad of grass, is placed in a depression 

 on the ground. The eggs, two in number, rarely three, are mode- 

 rately elongated ovals in shape, of a greenish or yellowish- white 

 color, densely speckled and spotted with various shades of 

 yellowish and earthy-brown. They measure 073 by 0'55. 



Pyrrhulauda melanauchen, Cab. 



7606k Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 193. 



THE BLACK-NECKED FINCH LARK. 



Length, 5'4 to 61 ; expanse, 9'6 to lO'l; wing, 3'02 to 3'2 ; tail, 

 2-0 to 2-2 ; tarsus, 0'6 to 07 ; bill at gape, 0'47 to 0'5. 



Bill pearly-white to whity-brown ; irides brown ; legs pale 

 whity-brown to pale fleshy-brown. 



" The male has a broad frontal band, cheeks, ear-coverts, and 

 a band from these round the base of the occiput and a large 



