Collection oj Birds from the Mediterranean. 133 



from wLicli places the market receives pretty regularly a 

 supply of Ducks, Barbary Partridges, Senegal Turtle-Doves, 

 and other species. 



Galerida thekl.e thekl.e Brehm. 



Plentiful at Vagos Bay, Portugal, very noticeably small 

 and Wood- Lai k-like in appearance, and frequently perching 

 in medium-sized ilex trees. 



Galerida cristata nigricans Brehm. 



These Crested Larks, the dark coloration of which at 

 once draws the attention of the observer, were met with at 

 Damanhour, where the rich-soiled cotton-fields and paddies 

 owe their existence to abundant irrigation with the waters of 

 the Nile, Very plentiful and confiding, the birds were con- 

 stantly met with on roads along which passed all day a 

 stream of camels, carts, and human traffic. 



Damanhour is evidently well inside the area of their 

 distribution. No other form of Crested Lark was seen 

 thei'e, but at Esbet Kourched, about twenty-five miles further 

 away from the Nile, G. c. nigricans seemed to be entirely, 

 or at any rate almost, replaced by G. c. altirostris, while 

 between the two places both forms were seen alongside one 

 another, but this, it must be noted, was in autumn and 

 winter. 



Galerida cristata altirostris Brehm, 



Crested Larks of this race were found at or near the 

 Mediterranean Sea of Egypt, but nowhere plentifully. In 

 the field it is indistinguishable from the typical Crested Lark. 



[Two specimens collected, — Damietta, November 22nd ; 

 Esbet Kourched, December 19th.— i/. F. JV.] 



Galerida cristata caroli Ilartert. 



These birds were plentiful in the sandy and poorly cultivated 

 country in the vicinity of the fresh-water canal that joins 

 Cairo and Ismai'lia about fifteen miles from the latter place. 

 The peculiar bleached appearance of the lower back, rump, 

 and upper tail-coverts in mid-winter was very noticeable. 



