ALAUDA FERRUGINEA. 
brown, passing towards the base of lower mandible into dusky yellow. Eyes 
daik-biown ; feet and claws light yellowish-brown. 
Form, & c .— -Typical. Bill strong, conical, and pointed, culmen slightly 
curved, and the nostrils are concealed by wiry recumbent feathers. Wings 
long, slightly rounded, and when folded reach to the commencement of the 
second half of the tail; the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth quill-feathers, nearly 
equal, and longest, the second rather shorter, and the first is not quite half 
the length of the second ; tertiaries nearly as long as the primaries. Tail 
square at the point, or but very slightly forked. Tarsi robust, and scutellated 
both before and behind ; toes strong and short, the claws of the hinder rather 
longer than those of the anterior toes, and but very slightly curved. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Inches. Lines. 
Length from the point of the bill to 
the tip of the tail 7 5 
Length of the hill from the gape 0 10 
of the wings when folded ... 4 1 
of the tail 3 2 
of the tarsus 1 2^ 
Inches. Lines. 
Length of the outer toe 0 4 
of the middle toe . . . . : 0 
of the inner toe 0 3 
of the hinder toe 0 3 
of the hinder claw 0 31- 
In the female the ground colours are not quite so bright as in the male, 
and the brown streaks on the breast are less distinct. 
The extensive arid plains immediately to the southward of the Orange River, commonly 
called the Bushman Flats, form the favourite habitat of this Lark. It is a wild bird mani- 
festing considerable suspicion at the appearance of man, and unless in the mornings’ rarely 
permits him to approach so near as to enable him to shoot it. It soars very frequently, parti- 
cularly m the early part of the day, and about sun-rise whistles delightfully ; being, while so 
occupied, generally perched upon the summit of the highest bush which exists in the locality. 
Besides this species, fifteen others inhabit the south of Africa. Le Vaillant has figured 
seven of these, and two, more recently discovered, have lately been represented in Guerin’s “ Ma- 
gazine de Zoologie.” Those yet unfigured we shall publish in the course of these illustrations. 
