RECENTLY OBSERVED SPECIES. 275 



FAMILY XX. ALAUDIN JE. 



GENUS LIV. ALAUDA. LARK. 



328. ALAUDA CBISTATA. CRESTED LARK. 



A small tuft of elongated and acuminate feathers on the 

 head ; bill slightly arched ; hind claw straight, longer than 

 the toe ; upper part of the head light reddish-brown, 

 streaked with dusky; a yellowish- white streak from the 

 eye over the ears ; hind neck and ear-coverts dark-brown ; 

 back and wing-coverts brown, each feather with a central 

 dusky patch; quills chocolate-brown, the tail-feathers light- 

 brown, the rest dark, the outer two light-red at the end ; 

 upper part of the throat white; fore neck, breast, and 

 sides pale yellowish-brown, streaked with darker ; the rest 

 of the lower parts plain yellowish -white ; bill and feet yel- 

 lowish-grey. 



Male, 6ft, . ., 4&, -fa 



In the Dublin Penny Journal, of February 27th, 1836, 

 Is a notice, signed W. R., of a specimen shot by the writer, 

 near Taney. Mr. Yarrell describes another subsequently 

 killed in Sussex. This species is very like the Common 

 Lark, but with the bill stronger, and a distinct decumbent, 

 erectile crest. It is found in most European countries from 

 Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, as well as North Africa, 

 Egypt, and Anatolia. 



Alauda cristata. Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. 796. Alauda 

 cristata, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 499. Alauda cristata, 

 Temm. Man. d' Ornith. i. 277. Alauda cristata, Yarrell, 

 Brit. Birds, suppl. 26. 



329. ALAUDA BRACHYDACTYLA. SHORT-TOED LARK. 



Some of the secondary quills as long as the primaries, 

 when the wing is folded ; toes very short ; bill and feet 

 light-brown ; upper parts light reddish-yellow, streaked 

 with deep-brown ; throat and a band over the eyes pure 

 white ; breast and sides pale-red ; abdomen* reddish-white ; 

 the two middle tail-feathers black in the middle, bordered 

 with deep red, the next three on each side bordered and 

 tipped with light-red, the next reddish-white on the outer 

 web, the outermost nearly all of that colour, but more 

 reddish towards the end. 



Length, 5-^. 



