5508 Birds. 



The other is the redthroated pipit [Anthus rufogularis), which I 

 found among short rushes on a wet marsh on the 24th of April, when 

 I shot two specimens : I did not observe it again. The bill was dark 

 brown, lighter at the base of the lower mandible ; hind claws curved, 

 and about as long as the toe ; eye hazel. 



Alaudinae. 



In commencing the Conirostres, we come to a family of birds which, 

 if not in species, is perhaps as numerous in individuals as any : with 

 modern systematic authors it stands at the head of this second division 

 of birds. I will here only speak of the species which I know have 

 been observed in the Crimea, the first of which is the common sky lark 

 of Britain [Alauda arv&nsis), which I observed in summer and autumn, 

 but did not examine a specimen until January, which I found to agree 

 with description. 



The next is the wood lark [Alauda arbor ea), of which I have seen 

 and compared a specimen, which was brought from the Crimea by an 

 officer who made a small collection. 



The only other British species, the shorttoed lark [Alauda bruchy- 

 dactyla), which I obtained in Bulgaria in March, I considered that I 

 observed while riding one day in the beginning of April in the Crimea ; 

 however, on the 21st of the month, I shot one out of a flock of about 

 seven ; they were common until the end of May, when I observed 

 numbers on the plains north of Sebastopol. I never at any time saw 

 more than seven or eight in a flock, which may be a peculiarity of the 

 species. I have observed one perch on a plant about a foot off the 

 ground, in which position I shot it. On examination of specimens, I 

 found the shaft of the outer tail-feather white, and part of the inner 

 vane of the same colour as the outer ; the outer vane of the first pri- 

 mary buff-white, the tertials varying from half an inch short of to level 

 with the end of the closed wing; first and second quill-feathers equal 

 and the longest; and the brown patch on the side of the neck usually 

 distinct, which is well shown in Yarrell's woodcut, but omitted in the 

 written description. 1 have the third wing-feather of a male specimen, 

 killed on the 18th of May, which shows a marked difference of colour 

 in the half-inch extending beyond the fourth feather, clearly proving 

 that the sun and weather affect the colour of the feathers of birds 

 to a certain degree. 



In November I considered that I saw a lark with a decided crest 

 on the high land above the Bosphorus, in Turkey ; and Lieut. Irby 



