280 



Algerian Sahara, is even there so rare that only now and then a stray specimen or two find their 

 way into collectors' cabinets. It has been stated by several authors to have occurred in Spain, 

 Southern France, and Greece ; but we have failed to find any undoubted instance of its occurrence 

 anywhere out of Northern Africa ; and only on its being found there can we include it in our 

 work as an inhabitant of the Western Pala^arctic Region. Temminck, Schinz, and Bree speak of 

 it as inhabiting Syria, and Degland and Gerbe as found in Eastern Asia ; but we fail to find any 

 ground for believing that it has ever occurred there. Degland and Gerbe write that it occasionally 

 appears in the south of Europe, and has occurred in Southern Spain, on the Island of Hyeres, and 

 that several specimens have been procured in the Marseilles market ; but, on the other hand, 

 Jaubert and Barthelemy-Lapommeraye deny this last statement as to its ever having been pro- 

 cured in Marseilles, and doubt its occurrence north of the Mediterranean. Boux writes that he 

 had " never been able to procure this Lark in Provence, although it has been observed during 

 migration." 



As regards its supposed occurrence in Greece, Count von der Miihle, in treating of Galerida 

 cristata, describes as a new species, under the name of Alauda ferruginea, a Lark which most 

 authors have considered to be the present bird ; but we are by no means certain that this is the 

 case, as the description given by Von der Miihle of the bird obtained by him does not tally with 

 Certhilauda duponti, especially as regards the tail; for one distinguishing characteristic of this 

 species consists of the white outer tail-feathers, and in Alauda ferruginea these feathers are 

 described as being dark isabelline reddish brown. For the better elucidation of this question we 

 give a translation of the original description of Alauda ferruginea, as follows : — " In the general 

 arrangement of colours it agrees with G. cristata, but is everywhere brighter and more fiery 

 red. The edges of the feathers on the upper parts are reddish isabelline, and the earthy grey 

 tint is entirely wanting; the throat, instead of being white, is cream-coloured, and the brown 

 spots on the throat are much darker ; the entire underparts are rich light isabelline ; the sides 

 and under tail-coverts redder and darker, without any trace of dark shaft-markings ; the outer- 

 most tail-feather and the edge of the second, as also a portion of the inner web, dark isabelline 

 reddish brown, the others black, lighter at the tip, almost forming an apical spot ; the beak very 

 long, reminding one of that of Alauda bifasciata, the under mandible horn-yellow, the upper 

 mandible brownish horn." The above description seems rather to point to a variety of the 

 common Crested Lark than to the present species ; and we have accordingly expunged Alauda 

 ferruginea from our list of synonyms. It is to be regretted that Count von der Miihle has 

 omitted to give measurements, as, had he done so, there would have been a better chance of 

 ascertaining what the bird described really is. 



Canon Tristram, writing on the ornithology of Northern Africa (Ibis, 1859, p. 427), states 

 that "this elegant and delicately marked bird — a link between Galerida and Certhilauda, 

 beautifully illustrative of the gentle gradations by which Nature glides from one type to 

 another — is, I believe, the very rarest of all the Larks of the Sahara. I found it only in the 

 far south, in the Wed Nca, at which place it was also obtained by Captain Loche a few months 

 afterwards. Neither of us ever saw more than two or three pairs. The white outer tail-feathers 

 give it the appearance at first sight of our common Skylark, for which indeed it passed with my 

 companion, who was the first to shoot it. Captain Loche obtained a nest of four eggs, one of 



