SIX MONTHS’ BIRD COLLECTING IN EGYPT. 173 
time I went, running swiftly over the sand. Their legs are 
white, and their bleached appearance is most typical of the 
true desert. They varied somewhat in plumage. One was 
evidently a bird of the year—though so early—April 3rd, 
with crescent markings on the upper plumage like a young 
Cursorius gallicus, and no chest spots; but what struck me 
most was the extraordinary difference in length of beak, 
and in size. The smallest measured 73 in.; the largest 9 
inches. The bill of the smallest was broken, but the culmen 
of the next measured 7, while the largest was 1} in. My 
two smallest specimens I attribute to C. sa/vinz (Tristram), 
but as Mr. Dresser has united that with C. desertorum, (loc. 
cit.) I do the same, : 
Ilr. SKYLARK, Alauda arvensis, Linn. ; 
A. intermedia, Swinhoe. 
Rather common in the Delta, where I shot one on the 
13th of January. The last I saw was in the market at 
Cairo on the 17th of February. 
112, CRESTED LARK, Alauda cristata, Linn. ; 
“Umbar” or “ Kunbarah.,” 
There is little to be said of this very common resident. 
They pair early, and I often’found their eggs. On the 2nd 
of March I saw a young one already able to fly. By the 
time they can fly a little the crest is well developed: it 
differs from the crest of the adult in being tipped with 
white. 
I have seen Crested Larks panting with the heat when 
the thermometer stood at about 85°, and again when it was 
nearly. 100°. Sonnini mentions having noticed them “in. 
the middle of the day with their bills half open, and. the 
