DESERT LARK. 189 



There is likely to be some confusion among tlie 

 Desert Larks, in consequence of tlie adoption of similar 

 names to designate different birds. Thus the present 

 bird is called the Desert Lark, but Mr. Tristram gives 

 the names of "Pale Desert Lark" and "Little Desert 

 Lark" to two other North African species, while we 

 have C. desertorum applied to the Bifasciated Lark. 

 Then again, while Schlegel, Degland, and others refer 

 the present bird to the Alauda deserti of Lichtenstein, 

 Captain Loche, in his "Catalogue of Algerian Birds," 

 following Bonaparte, makes the latter a distinct species, 

 under the name of Annomanes deserti. Then again we 

 have the name Annomcmes isahellina applied to the 

 subject of the present notice by Prince Ch. Bonaparte, 

 while he gives to a closely-allied species the name of 

 Galerida isahellina. Temminck described our bird as 

 Alauda isahellina, while Piippell gave the same desig- 

 nation to the Galerida isahellina of Bonaparte. It 

 must therefore be strictly borne in mind that the 

 species found in Europe is the Alauda isahellina of 

 Temminck, and the Desert Lark of Tristram. 



This beautiful and elegant species was first described 

 as European by Temminck, in the last edition of his 

 ^'Manual," in 1840. Its European localities are Greece, 

 south of Spain, and Portugal. It inhabits also Egypt, 

 Arabia, and the north of Africa. 



Eor a knowledge of its habits, hitherto recorded as 

 unknown, we are indebted to jNIr. Tristram, ("Ibis," 

 vol. i, p. 422,) who writes: — "^. isahellina, Temminck, 

 occurs first on leaving the Ilauts Plateaux in small 

 numbers, but is more plentiful further south, inhabit- 

 ing the open plains, where it is difficult to conceive 

 how it finds subsistence. Its lateral range is wide. I 

 have obtained it from the frontiers of Morocco to 



