284 ALAUDIN.E. 



in Sind, and is not uncommon in Northern Guzerat. It breeds 

 during April and May, in much the same way as the other larks. 

 The eggs measure 0'87 inches in length by about 0'65 in breadth. 



GENUS, Certhilauda, Swain son. 



Bill slender, lengthened, more or less curved ; wings very long ; 

 nostrils round and naked ; wings very long, the first quill short, the 

 second a little shorter than the next three, which are nearly 

 equal ; tail moderate or rather long, even ; tarsus lengthened ; 

 toes short ; hinder claw variable, typically short and straight. 



Certhilauda desertorum, Stan. 



770. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 438 ; Murray's Vertebrate 

 Zoology of Sind, p. 199. 



THE DESERT LARK. 



Length, 9 ; wing, 5'25 ; tail, 212 ; tarsus, 1'38. 



Bill horny, darker on culmen, and yellowish-white at base 

 beneath ; irides brown ; le^s sullied china- white. 



Light isabella-grey above, more fulvescent on the scapulars, 

 tertiaries, and two middle feathers, which are shaded with pale 

 dusky along the middle ; lores, superciliary stripe, throat and 

 belly white ; the breast feathers dusky, with broad whitish mar- 

 gins concealing the dark color within ; ear-coverts blackish 

 at the tips ; wings deep dusky-black ; primaries and secondaries 

 pure white at base ; the shorter primaries are also white tipped, 

 and the small wing-coverts margined with pale rufescent ; tail, 

 except the two middle feathers, deep dusky black, the outermost 

 feathers having their narrow outer web almost wholly white, and 

 the penultimate with a narrow white edge on the outer web. 

 The colors of the female are duller. 



The Desert Lark is found in desert and sandy tracts in Sind 



ORDER, Gemitores. 



Bill moderate or short, straight, compressed ; the basal portion 

 weak, and covered with a soft fleshy skin or membrane in which 

 the nostrils are situated ; the apical portion arched or vaulted, 

 and more or less curved down at the tip ; wings generally long, 

 pointed ; tail variable, usually of 12 or 14 feathers ; tarsi short 

 and stout ; legs feathered to the joint ; toes moderately long; 

 hind- toe on the same plane as the anterior ones. 



FAMILY, Treronidae. 



Bill varied, short and thick in some, slender in others, the 

 tip strong and vaulted ; wings long, firm ; the tail short or moder- 

 ate in most, always of 14 feathers ; tarsus short, more or less 

 feathered, the bare portion reticulated ; inner-toe a little shorter 

 than the outer, which is slightly united at the base to the middle- 

 toe ; claws short, well curved. 



