MELANOCOBYPHA. — OTOCORTS. 39 



Distribution in the British Islands. — A Rare Visitor to \^ 

 England. It has occurred, chiefly in winter, on six occasions 

 in the counties o£ Kent and Sussex. 



General Distribution. — This Lark breeds in the steppes of 

 southern Russia and in Asia from Turkestan to the Yenesei. 

 It wanders in winter to Turkey and other parts of Europe, 

 occasionally even as far as Heligoland, Belgium, and Italy. 



Melanocorypha yeltoniensis. Black Lark. 



Alauda yeltoniensis Forster, Phil. Trans. Ivii. 1768, 

 p. 350 : Lake Elton, S.E. Russia. 



Melanocorypha yeltoniensis {Forster) ; Sharpen Cat. Birds JB. M. 

 xiii. 1890, p. 559 ; Ticehurst, Bull. B. O. G. xix. 1907, p. 57. 

 Teltomiensis, from Lake Elton, in the Province of Astrakhan. 



Distribution in the British Islands. — A Rare Visitor. A 

 small party appeared on the coast of Kent and Sussex in the 

 months of Jan. and Feb., 1907. 



General Distribution. — The Black Lark breeds in south- 

 eastern Russia, about the mouth of the Volga, in Turkestan, 

 and in western Siberia. It wanders about in winter, and 

 has appeared on the Talish Plains, south of the Caucasus, 

 in Galicia, Italy, Belgium, and Heligoland. ., , .. 



Genus OTOCORYS Bonaparte, Nuovi Ann. Sci. Nat. 

 Bologna, ii. 1838, p. 407. 



Type : 0. alpestris (Linn.). 



Otocorys, from ovs, gen. wrds = an ear, and Kopvs = a helmet. 



Otocorys alpestris. Shoke-Laek. 



Alauda alpestris Linnceus, Syst. Nat. i. 1758, p. 166 : 

 Carolina, U.S.A. 



Otocorys alpestris (Linn.); B. O. U. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 73; 

 Sharps, Gat. Birds B. M. xiii. 1890, p. 541 ; Saunders, 

 Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 259. 

 AVpestris = alpine. 



