216 Contr'ib idiom to the OrnitJiology of India, Sfc. 



4" 15 Hussun ki gurhi North Sinclh. 



4"3 Hussun ki gurlii North Sindh. 



4-25 Hussun ki gurhi North Sindh. 



4"3 Sirsa. 



4*32 Sirsa, Jacobabad. 



In this large series it is impossible to draw a line anywhere. 

 As a rule all the birds up to 3 "9 are females, and those of 3'9 and 

 upwards, are males; but one female has awing of 3" 95, and there 

 is a male with awing of onlj 3' 6 ; but this is quite a young bird. 

 Besides the variation in the bill and wings, that in the hind 

 claw is excessively great. Picking out the two extremes^ I find 

 that this varies from 0'28 to 0'6, and though the claws are to a 

 certain extent proportional to the size of the bird, the longest 

 claw of all pertains to a female with a wing only 3*8. Again, 

 the variation in the spottings on the breast is very remarkable ; 

 in some these are large, well defined, blackish brown, in others 

 they are mere blurred streaks, of a somewhat pale brown ; in some 

 the spots are very numerous, in others there are not more than 

 half a dozen altogether. 



As regards the size, all that can be said is that all the biggest 

 birds appear to be from the far West and North- West. 



770— Alaemon desertorum, Stanley, 



So far as my experience goes, this species is confined to the 

 more sandy tracts included in the broad strip of comparative desert 

 which, almost everywhere, borders the bases of the hills that, 

 alike on the north and west, separate Sindh from Khelat. It 

 is never found congregated in flocks. It is rare to meet with a 

 second bird within half a mile of any other. They never appa- 

 rently fly, if left undisturbed, but run about, with their little porce- 

 lain white legs twinkling in the sunlight, hither and thither, 

 for all the world like miniature coursers. Now bending down the 

 body horizontally, now stretching themselves straight up, so as 

 to raise their heads as high as possible ; here meandering slowly 

 about, creeping as it were along the sand, then suddenly making 

 short darts with the utmost rapidity, and generally so con- 

 ducting themselves as to render it difficult to realize that they 

 can be larks and not plovers. I measured a considerable number 

 of these birds in the flesh, and the following were the dimensions 

 I obtained; the males being particularly variable in size, the 

 female less so. 



Male, length, 9-4 to ll'l; expanse, 16-25 to 17-3; tail 

 from vent, 3-7 to 4-1; wing, 5-1 to 5*45 ; feet, length, 1*45 to 

 1*6; width, 1 to 1"2; wings, when closed, reached to within from 

 1-2 to 1-6 of end of tail; bill at front, I'Ol to 1'14; tarsus, 

 r35 to 1-45; weight, 1-5 to 2 oz. 



