A CONTRIBUTION To THE ORNITHOLOGY OF GILGIT. 135 ~ 
5:25; tail, 3°6 to 3°75 ; tarsus, 0°92 to 0:95; bill from gape, 0°8 
to 0°82. Iwill now mention the main distinctions between 
these two forms, premising that I refer to adult males in 
breeding-plumage. . longirostris is a conspicuously larger 
bird than O. penicillata; it has no black band on the fore- 
head, while O. penicitlata has a broad one; the black band 
on the side of the neck is separated from the black patch on 
the breast by an intermediate white bar a quarter of an inch 
in width, whereas in O. penicillata the black on the side of 
the neck is quite continuous with the breast-patch ; the sinci- 
pital tufts are shorter in the larger bird, and the bill is longer, 
more slender, and more curved. There are other minor 
differences in the plumage; and the females are easily distin- 
guishable. The habits of the two species are quite different. 
C. longirosiris is a strictly alpine bird, never quitting the 
mountains; QO. penicillata swarms in winter in the Gilgit 
valley and about Yarkand and Kashghar; and of all the 
large number of larks of this type shot by Major Biddulph 
and myself in the localities just mentioned, not one can be 
referred to O. longirostris. 
The fact that the validity of O. longirostris has been 
questioned is probably due to several causes. In the first place, 
the name O. longirostris at once raises a prejudice against 
the species; in a group like the Larks, where the bill is so 
variable, the title selected is rather unfortunate. O. penicillata 
certainly has the bill very variable in size; and some 
Persian specimens especially have a large and deep bill, 
but still never quite like that of the species Iam endeavouring 
to defend, which, moreover, by no means depends on its bill 
alone for recognition. Again, O. penicillata in winter has the 
black of the neck and breast much concealed by pale tips to 
the feathers; and thus, in some specimens, the breast and 
neck-patches seem to be quite separated, as in O. longirostris ; 
the bases of the feathers, however, will be found to be black 
in these examples; and such cases are really no reason why 
these two species should be united. Due regard being paid 
to sex, age, and season, the two forms are readily separated. 
Mr. Blanford (Stray Fearusrs, 1879, p. 183) maintains the 
distinctness of O. longirostris and O. penicillata ; and 1 quite 
agree with him. 
180.—Alauda dulcivox, Hodgs. (766.) 
This large Sky-Lark, so common in Gilgit in winter, is dis- 
tinct from the next species (A. guttata), but only doubtfully 
so from 4. arvensis. After comparison of my birds with a 
large series of A. arvensis from Europe, I find that the Gilgit 
