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CALANDKELLA BJ1TICA. 



(ANDALUCIAN SHORT-TOED LARK.) 



Calandrella bcetica, sp. nov. 



C. affinis C. minori, sed multo saturatior, alis brevioribus, rostro paullo major : supra saturate nigricanti- 

 brunneo, plumis omnibus pallide fusco marginatis : remigibus nigricanti-brunneis, primario pi'imo in 

 pogonio externo grisescente arenario marginato, sequentibus vix pallide brunneo marginatis et apicatis : 

 secundariis in pogonio externo grisescenti-brunneis : scapularibus et tectricibus alarum dorso con- 

 coloribus : rectricibus nigricanti-brunneis, vix pallide brunneo marginatis et terminatis, rectricis externse 

 pogonio externo pallide flavicanti-arenario : loris et linea indistincta, per oculum versus nucham producta 

 sordide fulvescenti-albis : fascia laterali fulvescenti-albida, saturate fulvido notata : gula, et gutture albis, 

 fulvido guttatis : pectore ocbraceo lavato et conspicue nigricante brunneo maculato : hypocbondriis 

 rufescente cervino lavatis et saturate brunneo striatis : corpore reliquo subtus albo, vix cervino adum- 

 brato : subcaudalibus albis medialiter nigricante brunneo notatis : rostro brunnescenti-corneo : pedibus 

 pallide brunneis : iride brunnea. Long. tot. 5 - 5, alse 3 - 3, caudae 2"0, tarsi 0'8, hall, cum ung. 0'6, 

 culminis 0'45. 



Adult (Seville, spring of 1872). Upper parts dark blackish brown, each feather margined with dull sandy 

 grey ; quills dark blackish brown, the first primary having the outer web broadly margined with light 

 sandy grey ; rest of the primaries indistinctly edged and tipped with light brown ; secondaries similar, 

 the inner secondaries having the outer web dull greyish brown ; scapulars and wing-coverts similar to 

 the dorsal feathers; tail blackish brown, narrowly edged and tipped with light brown; outer tail- 

 feathers having the outer web light yellowish white, this colour extending over the shaft along the 

 centre of the inner web ; from the base of the bill an irregular light yellowish streak passing nearly to 

 the nape ; sides of the head and face dull buffy white, marked with dark brown ; underparts white ; 

 throat and breast closely covered with large blackish brown spots, as large or larger than those on the 

 breast of Alauda arborea ; flanks washed with buff, and streaked with large and broad blackish brown 

 lines ; under tail-coverts white, streaked with blackish brown ; beak horn-brown ; legs dull brown ; iris 

 brown. Total length 5 - 5 inches, culmen 045, wing 3*3, tail 2 - 0, tarsus - 8, hind toe with claw 0'6. 



Obs. After a careful examination of the large series in Lord Lilford's collection, I can discover no difference 

 between the sexes of this Lark. 



When collecting in Spain in the spring of 1872 Lord Lilford obtained two Short-toed Larks, 

 which he at first was inclined to describe as a distinct species, but subsequently, in a letter to the 

 editor of 'The Ibis' (Ibis, 1873, p. 98), records as Calandrella minor, Cab. (C. reboudia, Loche), 

 as follows : — 



" During my visit to the south of Spain last spring I fell in, near Seville, with a Short-toed 

 Lark, which I at once recognized as distinct from the ordinary Calandrella brachydactyla, from 

 which species it is distinguished by its greyer shade of colouring as well as its distinctly striped 

 upper surface and breast. Mr. Sharpe, to whom I submitted my specimens, has come to the 



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