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GALEEITA MACEOEHYNCHA. 



(TRISTRAM'S LARK.) 



Galerida randonii, Loche, Cat. Mamm. et Ois. obs. en Alg. p. 85 (1858), desc. nulla. 

 Galerida rnacrorhyncha, Tristram, Ibis, i. p. 57 (1859). 

 Galerida randonii, Loche, Rev. et Mag. de Zool. p. 150, pi. 11. fig. 2 (1860). 

 Megalophonus randonii, Loche, Hist. Nat. Ois. d'Alg. ii. p. 41 (1867). 



Figura unica. 

 Loche, torn. cit. 



Ad. Galeritce cristata similis, sed paullo pallidior et major : rostro majore, elongate, incurvo. 



Adult Male. General colour similar to G. cristata, but somewhat paler in tinge ; primaries washed with 

 rufous fawn towards their base, the central rectrices having the basal half also washed with that colour ; 

 beak and tarsi pale flesh-colour; iris brown. Total length 7 - 75 inches, eulmen 1, wing 4 - 5, tail 2'9, 

 tarsus r05. 



Female. Similar to the male, but somewhat smaller, measuring — eulmen - 85, wing 4'4, tail 2 - 8, tarsus 1. 



Obs. This Lark is distinguishable from the Common Crested Lark by its larger size and more powerful and 

 longer bill. In the five specimens I have before me the measurements vary as follows — eulmen 085 

 to 1, wing 4 - 4 to 4 - 8, tail 2'8 to 2 - 95, tarsus 1 to LI. 



This Lark, differing from Galerita cristata in being considerably larger in size and having a 

 stouter and larger, curved bill, inhabits North-western Africa ; but it must also be found much 

 further eastward, as a specimen belonging to the Berlin Museum, obtained by Ehrenberg at 

 Sor, in Syria, is certainly referable to this species. I have examined and measured this 

 specimen, which measures — eulmen 0*85, wing 4 - 3, tail 2 - 9, tarsus 1*05, and, compared with 

 Canon Tristram's female type example, agrees very closely with it. 



Excepting this bird, I have seen no specimens, except from Algeria, where it is tolerably 

 common. It was first discovered by Canon Tristram in 1857, but not described by him until 

 1859. In the mean time Major Loche catalogued it, as above recorded, under the name of 

 Galerida randonii, but published no description before 1860; thus Canon Tristram's name 

 published, with a description of the bird in 1859, takes precedence. Canon Tristram states 

 (Ibis, 1859, p. 426) that the specimens in Major Loche's collection were some which he gave 

 to him in 1857, these being, he presumes, the birds catalogued by that gentleman. Dr. Tristram, 

 writing on the ornithology of Algeria, says that, " unlike its congeners, this bird, by far the 

 largest of its genus, appears only to resort to the northern edge of the Sahara, where its lateral 

 range extends from Morocco to Tripoli. As might be anticipated from its habitat, its plumage 

 partakes only in a slight degree of the sandy hues which mark the true desert-habitants, although 

 very much paler than any Crested Larks obtained in Europe or in the Tell. It is unnecessary to 

 repeat the diagnosis already given in ' The Ibis ; ' but its size will at once prevent it from being 



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