ALAUDIN^. ANTHUS. 
170 
specimen?! in Mr Audubon’s collection. The specimens in the 
museum I had^ when assistant-conservator there, marked An- 
thus pratensis,nearEdinburgh, August 1824.” They are known 
by Mr Carfrae to have been prepared by his brother, who at 
that time preserved objects, along with Mr Wilson, for the 
museum. Should they be individually different from those of 
my note-book, we have four specimens of this species obtain- 
ed in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh in the same year. The 
following description is taken from the prepared specimens, 
the colours of the bill and feet being supplied from my notes. 
Bill of moderate length, straight, slender, broadish at the 
base, much compressed toward the end ; upper mandible with 
its dorsal line slightly declinate at the end, the ridge narrow, | 
the edges slightly inflected, the notches very small, the tip 
sharp ; lower mandible with the angle long and narrow, the 
dorsal line ascending and straight, the tip very narrow. Nos- 
trils oblong, small, at the lower anterior margin of the nasal 
membrane, which is bare anteriorly. Eyes of moderate size. 
Head oblong, neck short, body slender. Feet rather long, very 
slender ; tarsus much compressed, with seven anterior sen- 
tella ; the hind toe with its first joint very long, its claw mo- 
derately arched and a little longer ; the anterior toes slender, 
compressed, the third and fourth united at the base ; claws 
rather long, arched, extremely compressed, broadly grooved, 
acute. Plumage very soft and blended ; wings rather long ; 
the four outer primaries almost equal, but the first longest, 
the fourth shortest ; the second, third, and fourth, slightly cut 
out on the outer web toward the end ; the inner primaries and 
outer secondaries emarginate ; the inner three tapering ; tail 
rather long, slightly emarginate. Bill dusky brown, the basal 
part of the lower mandible and basal margins of the upper 
flesh-coloured ; feet and claws purplish-brown. The general 
colour of the upper parts is greyish-brown, with a slight tinge 
of olive, the margins of the feathers on the hind part being 
greenish ; the central part of each feather of a darker tint ; a 
distinct yellowish-white band from the bill over the eye; quills, 
coverts, and tail-feathers, brown ; the tips of the secondary 
coverts and first row of small coverts pale brownish-grey ; pri- 
mary quills edged with greyish- white ; secondary quills and 
their coverts with greenish-yellow ; the greater part of the 
outer web, and an oblique patch on the inner web of the outer 
tail-feather, white ; the margin of the terminal half of the 
outer web, and a small patch at the end of the next similar. 
The lower parts yellowish-grey ; the throat, abdomen, and 
