200 Asiatic Society. [No. 122. 



impropriety of its topical name becomes obvious, as the species would extend over the greater part 

 of India. Length 5f to 6 inches : extent 9£ to 10£ inches : wing from bend 3£ to 3 J inches : tail 1J 

 inch : bill to forehead above *- inch, to gape ~ inch and upwards, and vertical depth at base ~ 

 inch : the penultimate fourth of the edges of both mandibles strongly inflected : tarse nearly 1 inch : 

 the hind toe § inch ; and its claw from | to | inch. The form of the wing (as characteristic 

 of this generic group) diners much from that common to the three others, the 1st quill, which in the 

 restricted Larks is excessively diminutive, measuring fully 1 inch: the 2nd is shorter than the 6th, 

 and the 3rd, 4th, and 5th, equal and longest. Irides hazel ; bill dusky above, the sides of the base of 

 the upper mandible, and all the lower one except its extreme tip, whitish ; legs and feet light brown 

 with a tinge of carneous, the joints and claws rather darker. General colour ashy-brown above, the 

 coronal feathers, interscapularies and scapularies, having broad dusky-brown centres, or they 

 may be described as of the latter hue, slightly tipped and broadly margined laterally with cinere- 

 ous, which last prevails on the nape and rump : wings and tail dusky, margined with rufescent 

 pale fulvous, a little deeper at the base of the caudal plumes : the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and Gth prima- 

 ries successively more emarginated outwards on their exterior webs, and the unemarginated por- 

 tion, with nearly the whole outer webs of the other primaries excepting the two first, deep rufo- 

 ferruginous : underneath, the wings are almost wholly of a fainter ferruginous, and the rest of 

 the under-parts are fulvous white, somewhat deeper and marked with dusky spots on the breast, 

 and paler on the throat : a fulvous-white streak passes over the eye ; and the ear-coverts are 

 confusedly speckled with dusky. A common species in the neighbourhood of Calcutta. It has 

 none of the sprightliness of the true Larks, but (as observed in captivity) is a thick-built, heavy 

 and inactive bird, prone to hide itself from observation by creeping under other birds, or availing 

 itself of whatever sort of cover there happens to offer. The sexes are undistinguishable. 



The next may, I think, be referred to the genus Corypha, G. Gray, or Brachonyx, Swainson. It is 

 the Ortolan of Europeans in India, or Baghairee of the natives, though other species are often sold 

 with it under the former name, especially a large Pipit which appears to be the Anthus Richardi, 

 and which is brought in great numbers to supply the tables of the luxurious towards the close of 

 the cool season, when the present species gradually replaces it. 



2. C. baghaira : Emberiza baghaira, Franklin; Alauda Dukhunensis, Sykes. Length 6 to6| inches; 



extent 13j to 13| inches ; wing from bend 8| inches ; and tail 2\ inches : bill to forehead — inch ; 



13 16 



and | inch to gape ; its vertical depth at base less than | inch ; tarse -- inch, or nearly so : the hind 



toe and claw averaging § inch: representative of the usual 1st quill wholly obsolete, and what 

 therefore become the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, are subequal, and g inch longer than the 4th. In the typical 

 Alauda which follow, the first quill exists in extreme minuteness, and the four next are longest 

 and subequal. Irides dark hazel. Bill whitish-horny, blackish along ridge of upper mandible, 

 and slightly on that of lower ; legs brownish, and darker at the joints. This bird changes its 

 plumage in February, and the prevalent hue of the upper parts, in newly moulted specimens, is 

 slightly rufescent pale sand-colour, each feather having a moderately broad streak of dusky ; stripe 

 over the eye, and the whole under-parts, fulvous-white, deepening on the breast, and wholly 

 spotless in some, in the generality a little spotted, more or less obscurely: ear-coverts tinged pos- 

 teriorly with dusky: wings dusky-brown, with fulvous edgings, broader and deeper coloured on 

 the tertiaries and tips of the coverts, and a whitish edge to the first primary only : tail also 

 dusky, its penultimate feather having the exterior web white-edged, and the outermost feather 

 having its exterior web wholly white to near the base, and also a considerable portion of its 

 inner web. In the old or worn plumage, the dusky much prevails upon the back, from the 

 fulvous edgings to the feathers having disappeared, and, in general, there is a strong rufous cast 

 upon the crown, which is seldom very distinctly apparent in the new feathers ; the breast has 

 commonly a few small and narrow dusky streaks, and a patch of the same appears on each side 

 of the lower part of the fore-neck, composed of the outer webs of the uppermost exterior pectoral 

 feathers ; this is more or less developed in different specimens, and less observably in the newly 



