152 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



whitish tips which soon wear off ; rump brown without dark 

 streaks ; lores and line over and behind eye, creamy-white ; 

 cheeks whitish, speckled brown ; ear-coverts brown ; chin, centre 

 of throat and sides of neck below ear-coverts creamy -white sparsely 

 speckled dark brown, except in malar region where speckles form 

 ill-defined stripe ; on each side of lower throat conspicuous black 

 patch ; upper-breast huffish-white streaked black-brown, rest of 

 breast and belly and under tail-coverts white ; flanks, under 

 wing-coverts and axillaries greyish-brown, feathers with very 

 narrow greyish-white tips ; tail-feathers brown-black, central pair 

 widely edged pale brown, outermost pair with outer and most of 

 inner web white, penultimate pair narrowly fringed white and tip 

 white, rest with smaller white tips ; wing-feathers brown-black, 

 outer webs narrowly fringed pale brown (in 2nd primary whiter), 

 outer primaries with narrow brownish-white tips, inner primaries 

 and secondaries with wider and whiter tips, except innermost 

 secondaries which are fringed and tipped pale brown ; primary- 

 coverts brown-black, narrowly fringed and tipped pale brown ; 

 all wing-coverts dark brown fringed and tipped (broadly in greater 

 and median), pale brown to whitish-brown. This plumage is 

 acquired by complete moult in autumn. Summer. No moult. 

 Abrasion causes very little change, but mantle becomes rather 

 darker owing to wear of brown edges of feathers, streaks on breast 

 and black patches on sides of throat become still more prominent. 



Nestling. (Not examined.) 



Juvenile. (Not examined.) 



First winter. Apparently like the adults and probably the 

 juvenile plumage is completely moulted in the first autumn as in 

 other Larks, but no specimen moulting has been examined. 



Measurements and structure. wing 120-135 mm., tail 57-65, 

 tarsus 26-30, bill from skull 16-20 (12 measured). $ wing 110-132. 

 Primaries : 1st minute and less than half primary-coverts, 2nd and 

 3rd usually equal and longest but 2nd sometimes 1-4 mm. shorter, 

 4th 1-6 shorter, 5th 8-16 shorter, 6th 13-27 shorter ; 3rd to 5th 

 emarginated outer webs. Secondaries between 7th and 10th 

 primaries, square tipped and notched. Tail almost square. Hind- 

 claw straight, spike-shaped and longer than hind -toe. Bill very 

 strong and thick, upper mandible curved and slightly longer than 

 lower. Some small and fine rictal and nasal bristles, and small 

 bristle-like feathers covering nostrils. 



Soft parts. Bill, upper mandible dark horn, lower yellowish 

 horn ; legs and feet yellowish-brown ; iris brown. 



CHARACTERS AND ALLIED FORMS. M. c. psammochroa (western 

 Persia, Transcaspia to Turkestan), is paler and rather more sandy 

 on upper-parts and paler on flanks. M. bimaculata (Turkestan, 

 Persia, Lebanon, Asia Minor) has not white tips to secondaries 

 and inner primaries. Large size, black patches on sides of lower 



