in fivo Andaluciaii ^terras. 463 



spotted, the throat and beliy beinj^ white. These differences 

 are of some importance for identification, because in the 

 juvenile C. h. brachydactyla the secondaries, although ap[)a- 

 rently fully grown, are considerably shorter than the 

 primaries, as they arc in members of the minor group, 

 whereas in adult brachydactyla they are as long as the 

 primaries. — H. F. TF.] 



"^Galerida theckl.^ theckl.e Brehm. 



^ r> 11 1 ^Crested Larks, 



* Ijalerida cristata pallida J3rehm, 



m.l 



^Crc 

 '• J 

 Sail Cristobal. — A few Crested Larks were breeding on 



esparto-grass slopes and plateaux of the mountain up to 



4000 ft., at which elevation a female shot on April 2Jth 



was in the middle of lier egg-laying. In the Goto Douana 



the species was very scarce, but everywhere between that 



])lace and San Gristobal, especially in the undulations of the 



lowlands, abundant. 



Twelve specimens from localities representative of the 

 whole of this distribution shew a certain amount of varia- 

 tion in colour, nevertheless they all midoubtedly belong to 

 the " IhecUiB " group. 



We have a suspicion that in the plains round Jerez there 

 are a few G. cristata, more sandy-coloured birds thananv of 

 the above and, in marked contrast to the latter, so wild that 

 we could never shoot one to settle the question. 



It may be mentioned that near Hervas, in Estreraadura, 

 we procured both G. theckla and G. cristata alongside one 

 another, and, moreover, the latter was sufficiently distinctive 

 in appearance to cause us to dismount on purpose to obtain 

 what was obviously a different bird to G. tJiecklce, of which 

 we had just shot four specimens. 



A point of interest, which others may perhaps have noticed 

 in the Grested Lark, is the frequency with which during the 

 breeding-season three birds are seen together. Earlier in 

 the year, when courting is in progress, there would of course 

 be nothing remarkable about such an occurrence, but we 

 rather think the Grested Lark may be inclined to irregularity 

 in its mating, a suggestion in support of which may be 



