ALAUDA FERRUGINEA. 



brown, passing towards the base of lower mandible into dusky yellow. Eyes 

 dark-brown ; feet and claws light yellowish-brown. 



Form, &c. — Typical. Bill strong, conical, and pointed, cuhnen slightly 

 curved, and the nostrils are concealed by wiry recumbent feathers. Wings 

 long, slightly rounded, and when folded reach to the commencement of the 

 second half of the tail ; the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth quill-feathers, nearly 

 equal, and longest, the second rather shorter, and the first is not quite half 

 the length of the second ; tertiaries nearly as long as the primaries. Tail 

 square at the point, or but very slightly forked. Tarsi robust, and scutellated 

 both before and behind ; toes strong and short, the claws of the hinder rather 

 longer than those of the anterior toes, and but very slightly curved. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Inches. 

 Length from the point of the bill to 



the tip of the tail 



Length of the bill from the gape 



of the wings when folded . . . 



of the tail 



of the tarsus 



In the female the ground colours are not quite so bright as in the male, 

 and the brown streaks on the breast are less distinct. 



The extensive arid plains immediately to the southward of the Orange River, commonly 

 called the Bushman Flats, form the favourite hahitat of this Lark. It is a wild bird, mani- 

 festing considerable suspicion at the appearance of man, and unless in the mornings, rarely 

 permits him to approach so near as to enable him to shoot it. It soars very frequently, parti- 

 cularly in the early part of the day, and about sun-rise whistles delightfully ; being, while so 

 occupied, generally perched upon the summit of the highest bush which exists in the locality. 



Besides this species, fifteen others inhabit the south of Africa. Le Vaillant has figured 

 seven of these, and two, more recently discovered, have lately been represented in Guerin's " Ma- 

 f/azine de Zoologie." Those yet unfigured we shall publish in the course of these illustrations. 



