350 



four eggs, taken a little to the south of El Djem, in the Regency of Tunis;" and Mr. J. H. 

 Gurney, jun., found it common, in flocks, about Ain-Oussera. 



It is not uncommon in North-east Africa, whence it was first described by Dr. Cabanis ; and 

 Captain Shelley writes that it " appears to be a resident in Egypt ; for Mr. E. C. Taylor killed 

 some specimens in the month of January near Cairo, out of a flock which he found on the 

 desert. It is, however, of very rare occurrence in the country." Von Heuglin records it as a 

 migrant in spring and autumn in Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia, where it is met with in small flocks 

 wandering in the desert and steppes. Mr. C. W. Wyatt met with it commonly on Sinai, where, 

 he writes, "large flocks frequent the sides of the stream which runs through the marshes." 



In Palestine, Canon Tristram writes, " this elegant little bird, the smallest of the group, is 

 a strictly desert bird, frequenting regions similar to those where it was discovered in the Sahara, 

 in which it is a permanent resident, and less gregarious than most of its congeners." 



In its habits it closely resembles the Common Short-toed Lark, and, like that bird, feeds on 

 small insects and various kinds of seeds. 



Loche writes that it places its nest on the ground, under shelter of a stone or tussock, and 

 deposits four or five eggs, which are described by Canon Tristram as being " like lai'ge varieties 

 of C. brachydactyla." 



The specimen figured is one in my own collection, collected in Algeria, and obtained through 

 Mr. Fairmaire ; and those described are in the collection of Canon Tristram. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens : — 



E Mus. H. E. Dresser, 

 a. Malta, November 1862 (C. A. Wright), b, c. Algeria (Fairmaire). d. Algerian Sahara (Verreausc). 



E Mus. H. B. Tristram. 



a, j. Hadjira, December 23rd, 1856 (H. B. T.). b, 2 ■ El Djem, May 1857, taken on the nest (H. B. T.). 

 c, 6 . .El Baadj, January 16th, 1857 (H. B. T.). d. Ain-Oussera, Algeria, March 12th, 1870 [J. H. 

 Gurney , jun.) . e, 6 ,f, 2 ■ Near Beersheba, February 2nd, 1864 (H. B. T.). 



E Mus. Howard Saunders. 

 a. Algeria (J. H. Gurney, jun.). 



E Mus. E. Cavendish Taylor, 

 a. Cairo, January 1864 (E. C. T.). 



E Mus. Berol. 

 a, 6 . Egypt (Ehrenberg) . Type of Galandritis minor. 



