184 Ornithological Notes, chiefly on some birds [No. 3, 



huppee de la cdte de Malabar (A. Malabarica of Scopoli). On turning 

 to Sonnerat's Voyage, pi. Ill (not 113 as quoted in Jerdon's Birds of 

 India) I find the chief peculiarity of the lark there figured, is the very 

 broad pale edges to all the feathers, and in the accompanying descrip- 

 tion, it is stated that the crest is tipped white, and the feathers of the 

 back and wing coverts are broadly tipped with rufous. I cannot find 

 a copy of Scopoli's work : Latham merely copied from Sonnerat, even 

 translating cinq pouces, neaf lignes by 5f inches which, considering 

 that the French pouce is not the English inch, is of course not quite 

 accurate. 



Now the Kbandalla bird has neither white tips to the crest feathers 

 nor broad rufous edges on the back and wing coverts. In size, bill 

 and colouring it closely resembles A. gulgula, the principal differences 

 being that it has a pointed erectile crest on the top of the head as in 

 Galerida, and that it has precisely the proportions of the wing primaries 

 of that genus. The plumage above is scarcely distinguishable from 

 that of A. gulgula, below the breast spots are larger and more numer- 

 ous and the abdomen is paler. Jerdon says Alauda Malabarica is 

 somewhat smaller than A. gulgula, and the general tone of colouring 

 much more rufous. Now the Khandalla bird is, if anything, less 

 rufous, certainly less so than the Nilgiri race of A. gulgula. 



Again Mr. Blyth in his commentary on Dr. Jerdon's birds of India 

 in the Ibis for 1867 says that Alauda ccelivox of Swinhoe is nearer to 

 A. Malabarica than to A. gulgula. There is a specimen of A. coelivox 

 in the Indian Museum sent, I believe, by Mr. Swinhoe himself, and 

 whilst it so clearly resembles A. gulgula that I am unable to appre- 

 ciate the difference, it is not in the least like the Khandalla lark. 



The very imperfect specimen in the Indian Museum, labelled A. Ma- 

 labarica by Mr. Blyth and presented by Dr. Jerdon, is in so bad con- 

 dition that I can only say, it is not the Khandalla bird. It may be 

 A. gulgula, the Nilgiri variety. 



I have in one or two cases shewn that Malabar birds range north 

 along the Western Ghats, so that it is by no means improbable that this 

 lark also inhabits Malabar. If we suppose, which is probable, that 

 Sonnerat's figure is simply a caricature, as the adjoining print on the 

 same page of JPgrrhulauda grisea most certainly is, and that the de- 

 scription was taken from the picture, and not from the bird, (the only 



