398 AMMOMANES 



in A. deserti. It has also been treated as distinct, but it 

 appears to me that it should be united with the present 

 species. 



566. GOULD'S DESERT-LARK. 



AMMOMANES CINCTURA. 



Ammomanes cinctura (Gould), Voy. Beagle, Birds, p. 87(1841) ; Dresser, 

 iv. p. 335, pi. 234; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. xiii. p. 644, A. 

 arenicolor (Sund.), Ofv. V. Ak. Forh. 1850, p, 128 ; A. elegans 

 (C. L. Brehm), Vogelf. p. 122 (1855), A. regulus (Bp.), Compt. Rend, 

 xliv. p. 1066 (1857). 



$ ad. (Malta). Differs from the rufous isabelline form of A. deserti in 

 being smaller, and having the tail terminated by a blackish brown band, 

 upper parts warm rufous isabelline, rather more rufescent than in A. 

 deserti ; primaries dusky brown at the ends ; bill greyish horn ; legs pale 

 greyish ; iris brown. Culmen 0'48, wing 3*5, tail 2*2, tarsus 0*82, hind toe 

 with claw 0-42 inch. 



Hob. Cape Verde Islands ; the whole of the desert region of 

 N. Africa ; Arabia, Persia ; has once occurred at Malta. 



In habits it is said to resemble A. deserti, and is an inhabitant 

 of the stony portions of the desert regions, where it feeds on 

 small seeds and to some extent on insects. Its song is weak 

 but shrill, and is generally uttered when the bird is floating in 

 the air. It breeds in the Cape Verde Islands from December to 

 March, and in N. Africa late in April. The nest which is 

 placed on the ground under shelter of a stone or bush and 

 surrounded with small stones is constructed of grass-bents and 

 plant-stems, lined with a little wool and small pieces of rag 

 when obtainable. The eggs, 2 to 3 in number, are white, or 

 apricot pink when fresh and unblown, finely spotted, chiefly at 

 the larger end, with ashy grey and dull violet. 



In tinge of plumage the Lark varies not a little, some being 

 greyer and others more rufous in tinge, and examples from 

 Nubia are very pale. In India it is represented by A. 

 phcenicura (Frank!.), which is much larger and as dark or darker 

 than extreme varieties of A. deserti, but has the terminal 

 portion of the tail blackish, as in A. cinctura. Mr. Hartert has 

 described the Cape Verde bird under the name A. cinctura 

 arenicolor, and that from Eastern Persia as A. cinctura zarudnyi, 

 as subspecies. 



