BIRDS FROM NORTHERN AND WESTERN PERSIA. 857 



and had not apparently returned when I passed through Enzeli on 31st October. 

 These specimens have been examined by Dr. Hartert who says he cannot separate 

 them from typical E. s. schaniclus. 



Emberiza pyrrhuloides korejewi (Zarudnv.) — Large-billed Reed Bunting. 



3$, 2$, Enzeli— 18th ApriL27th June. 



2^, (1 imm.)— Enzeli 28th June. 

 This race of the Large-billed Reed Bunting, which is already known from 

 Seistan and Syria, was first noticed at Enzeli on 17th April. The birds frequented 

 bramble bushes on the reedy islands of the Enzeli lagoon and were common. 

 I took a clutch of 5 eggs half incubated on 27th June and next day Cheesman 

 shot a young male in first plumage. This clutch has been described by Jourdain 

 (1920). Zarudny only records ^. p. ^orejewt from Seistan and S. Baluchistan. 

 He records the typical race as resident on the Caspian litoral. Dr. Hartert has 

 however compared my specimens with some collected by Zarudny himself in 

 Seistan and refers them to E. p. korejetvi. 



Ammomanes deserti, sub-sp ? —Desert Lark. 



1 $ , Qasr-i-Shirin— 24th November 1918. 



This species of Desert Lark was quite abundant at Qasr-i-Shirin at the time 

 of my visit. I never saw it elsewhere. 



The single specimen obtained is quite unlike any in the British or Tring 

 Museums. It is closest to A. d. fraterculus, Tristr, but is not so pale as that in 

 the same plumage, and the underside and wing coverts in my bird are very much 

 redder ; the bill is very short and thick. A specimen collected by Woosnam 

 in April at Ram Hormuz in S. W. Persia is indistinguishable from A. d. frater- 

 culus from Palestine, and this form also occurs at Takrit, R. Tigris, in summer 

 (C. B. Ticehurst.). 



Galerida cristata subtaurica, Kolibay. — Crested Lark. 

 2$, 1$, Menjil — April, (breeding). 

 1 2 • Hasanabad— 29th May, breeding (R. E. C). 

 2^, 2$. Qazvin— December 1918, and January 1919. 

 1,^, Qasr-i-Shirin — 24th November 1918. 

 The specimens of the Crested Lark agree completely with two in the Tring 

 Museum from Eregli in the Cilician Taurus. Crested Larks from Eregli have 

 been described by Kollibay (1912) as Galerida cristata subtaurica. 



These specimens show that O. c. subtaurica is intermediate in size and in colour 

 between G. c. caucasica, Tacz (Lagodechi, Caucasia) and G. c. magna, Hume 

 (Yarkand). It is darker than G. c. magna with the feathers of the crown and 

 back more darkly centered ; the streaks on the breast and sides of the neck 

 are also heavier than in magiva at the same time of year. On the other hand 

 the general tone is brown and buff as in magna, not grey as in caucasica. The 

 $ bills of subtaurica in dried skins are much darker than they are in magna. 

 Dimensions: wings 5 <^ 105-114 mm. (average 109) 4 $ 100-103 (average 101). 

 length of bill $ 16-17.5, $ 14.5-16.5 : of G. c. magna g 15.5-18.5, $ 16-18 

 mm. and G. c. caucasica cj 15-17, 9 15-16 mm. 



Zarudny noticed that the Crested Lark of N. W. Persia was different from 

 G. c. magna in Eastern Persia, but he made the mistake of identifying it with 

 G. c. caucasica. Woosnam's specimens from Shalamzar, S. W. of Ispahan, and 

 from the Elburz Mountains are in the British Museum : they undoubtedly 

 belong to G. c. subtaurica. Witherby (1907, 1910) recorded them as G. c. magna, 

 a very natural mistake to make when skins from Western Asia were even scarcer 

 than they are now. On the other hand Witherby's skins from Ears (Witherby 

 1903) and Woosnam's from Ahwaz (Witherby 1907) are certainly not G. c. 

 subtaurica and his identification of them as G. c. magna can probably rest, for 

 the moment at any rate. So far as we know therefore G. c. subtaurica occurs 

 in N. W. and W. Persia, but not in other parts of the country. 



