26o 
Annals of the Transvaal Museum 
be placed in a subgenus under the new name of Neomirafra. M. chiniana 
rises high and has a lively tune, in which imitation of the cries of other 
birds is conspicuous ; M. fringillaris on the other hand hardly rises higher 
than the tree tops and its melancholy note of a few syllables is very 
different. I have found both species breeding at the same time in the same 
localities. 
The Clapper Larks are commonly placed in Mirafra too; but they were 
long ago recognised to be distinct and the generic name of Corypha Gray, 
type C. apiata Vieill., was given to them. This name is preoccupied, how- 
ever, by Coryphe in Coleoptera and I therefore propose to name it Croteo- 
PTERA nom. nov., type Alauda apiata Vieillot. In this genus the nostrils 
are covered by a large superior membrane, the first primary is attenuate, 
but nearly half the length of the second, the bill short and blunt, its height 
at the base about half the length of the culmen; in colour characters 
members of the genus are commonly irregularly barred above. There are 
two subgroups, members of which sometimes overlap, the typical forms 
smaller and with a weaker biU, containing apiata, fischeri and other eastern 
forms, and the other larger and with a heavier bill, containing rufipilea, 
rufocinnamomea, and others of more westerly distribution. Mirafra 
damarensis Sharpe appears to me to belong to this group, though I have 
not seen an example and cannot be sure. M. rufocinnamomea (Salv.) 
belongs apparently to the larger group, and has been recorded from within 
our limits by Grant and Sclater, as also M. zomhae Og.-Grant, which belongs 
to the smaller group (cf. Ibis, 1911, p. 255). M. adendorffi Rbts. {Ann. 
Transvaal Mus. vi. 117, 1919) comes near apiata. 
The large species, M. africana A. Smith, belongs to a distinct genus, 
differing from the preceding in having the plumage striped above, size 
larger, the bill longer (height much less than half the length) and quite 
distinct in habits; it may be separated under the new generic name of 
Africorys, of which the typical subspecies may be taken as the type. It 
is widely distributed over the continent and a number of subspecies have 
been recognised, the following from within our limits : M. africana africana 
A. Smith, Eastern Cape Province to Natal; transvaalensis Hartert {Nov. 
Zool. VIII. 45, 1900), Transvaal; grisescens Sharpe in the northern parts of 
Transvaal and northwards through Rhodesia, and pallidior Sharpe in 
Ovamboland (cf. Bull. BritrOrn. Cl. xii. 62, 1902). 
A smaller species, M. africanoides A. Smith has much the appearance 
of the last; but differs in its shorter bill and smaller size. It is widely 
distributed like Africorys and may be placed in a subgenus under the name 
of Anacorys. Pale specimens from Damaraland I have named M. afri- 
canoides harei {Ann. Transvaal Mus. v. 258, 1917). 
Another distinct genus is found in the Sabota Larks, which are charac- 
terised by the nostrils opening upwards through a protruding membrane, 
the bill short, strong and the tip rounded like a botanical trowel. To this 
genus I apply the name of Sabota gen. nov., type M. sabota A. Smith, and 
would also contain M. naevia Strickland. 
The three species of Ammomanes recorded from South Africa have 
been removed by Bianchi {Bull. Ac. St Petersb. (5) xxi. 232, 1904) to new 
genera, namely A. grayi to Ammomanop sis, and A. ferruginea and A. ery- 
throchlamys to Pseudammomanes. Strange to say, none of the South 
