18/4.] LARKS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA. 617 



the head rather darker than the back, and slightly streaked with 

 rufous, the margins to the feathers being of this colour ; wing- 

 coverts dark brown, with sandy fulvous margins, the greater series 

 paler brown, some of the coverts slightly margined with white; 

 quills paler brown, margined with ashy fulvous and tipped with 

 white, the secondaries washed on the outer web with ashy grey, and 

 with rufous on the inner web, and tinged with the same at the tip, 

 the lower surface of the wing ashy brown, the rufous margins very 

 distinct on the inner secondaries ; upper tail-coverts bright rufous, 

 some of them margined with whitish; tail-feathers dark brown 

 tipped with white, and rufous at the base, like the upper tail-coverts, 

 this colour extending further on the centre feathers, which are 

 shaded with ashy but not tipped with white ; forehead tinged with 

 rufous ; ear-coverts and a streak above them bright rufous, but not 

 forming a distinct eyebrow ; lores buffy whitish ; cheeks and throat 

 white, the former with a few specks of brown ; rest of under sur- 

 face bright sandy rufous ; the under wing-coverts light isabelline, 

 those on the outer edge of the wing more rufous; on the breast 

 a few spots of dark brown, and on the sides of the upper breast 

 a few streaks of the same : " upper mandible of the bill and the 

 lower towards the point reddish brown, the latter towards the base 

 reddish yellow lightened with flesh-red ; legs and toes intermediate 

 between Dutch orange and sienna-yellow, and tinted with flesh-red ; 

 claws of the same colour as the legs, shaded with brown ; eyes a 

 bright clear brown" (Sir A. Smith). Total length 67 inches, 

 culmen 0-9, wing 37, tail 26, tarsus 135. 



Adult female. Similar to the male, but much smaller, and having 

 a shorter bill. Total length 5 inches, culmen 07, wing 3 '25, tail 

 21, tarsus 1-1. 



Young. Very like the adult, and of the same dark brown colour, 

 but distinguished by very distinct white edgings to the dorsal fea- 

 thers, wing-coverts, and secondary quill-feathers. 



In my ' Catalogue of African Birds,' I united all the small Certhi- 

 lauda of South Africa under one name, C. rufida ; but I believe now 

 that this determination was erroneous, and that there are two species, 

 one a rufous and one a dark brown species. I have what appears 

 to be a good series of each of them in all plumages, and consider 

 them distinct, the following being the measurements of the series. 



1. 6 ad., S. Africa (Sir A. Smith)]. 



2. 2 ad. 



3. c? ad. 



4. c? ad., Port Elizabeth (Ortlepp) . 



5. 3 ad. 



6. 3 ad., Colesberg „ 



7. $ juv., Natal (Wahlbery) 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1874, No. XL. 40 



