Novelties. — Mirafra microptera. 483 



Leno^th, 3-1 to 3-4 ; tail, from vent, 0-9 ; wing, 175 to 1*85 ; 

 tarsus, about 0*4 ; bill at front, about the same. 



The entire upper surface is a moderately dark olive g-reen, 

 becoming yellower, and brighter on the upper tail coverts. The 

 tail feathers are black, margined at their bases, with yellowish 

 olive. The wings are dark hair brown, almost black, the feathers 

 narrowly margined on the outer webs with yellowish olive green. 

 The lores and face are pale grey brown, in some whitish, in some 

 tinged with olive ; the chin and throat albescent, the breast 

 greyer and duskier ; abdomen, vent, and lower tail coverts, dull 

 olive yellow, in some greyish white, only tinged with this color. 

 Axillaries and wing lining and inner margins of quills on their 

 lower surfaces towards base, pure white, in one tinged faintly with 

 yellow. The bill is black or nearly so, at the tips of both man- 

 dibles and on the culmen, the basal three-fourths of the lower 

 mandible, and about the basal one-fourth of the upper mandible, 

 apparently pale leaden blue. Although slightly smaller, this bird 

 is very close to Bicaum cruentatum. The bills are identical, and 

 a bright colored specimen of the female of this species, with the 

 crimson of the upper tail coverts re-placed by a dull pale yellow- 

 ish olive, would on its upper surface be scarcely distinguishable 

 from our present bird. 



Mirafra microptera, By- '^ov. -^ 



Mesemhles mirafra aiHnis, Jerdon, but has 'more rufous on the quills, and is 

 altogether smaller ; wing, 2'6 to 2*75 ,• bill at front, 0*5 to 0'55. 



Dr. Jerden mentions that he found Mirafra affinis common at 

 Thayetmyo ; but having now received se^ eral specimens of the 

 Burmese bush-lark from Capt. Fielden, Mr. Gates, and others, 

 I entertain no doubt, that it is quite distinct from the Southern 

 Indian affinis, which though very similar to it in plumage has 

 a wing, 3"2 to 3'3 ; and a bill, 0*7 at front. 



Except as regards size of wing, this species is yevj close indeed 

 to affinis, so close as to render a detailed description unnecessary, 

 but I may note that in the primaries, the rufous of the inner 

 webs is greater in extent than in affinis, and that there is no 

 rufous on the outer webs of the primaries. 



