ALAUDIN/E. 
equalling the middle toe. Toes moderate, the lateral ones equal ; the anterior' claws short and curved, 
and the hind one lengthened and straight. 
These birds are mostly found in India and its islands, and the northern parts of Africa. “ One of the species fre- 
quents,” says Mr. Jerdon, “ the bushy and stony hills, and low jungly plains. It is found single or in pairs, is a wary 
bird when roused, flying a short distance, and seating itself behind a bush on the ground, or perching on the back part 
of a bush, which it does much more frequently. Others seek the open plains, preferring the barest spots, ploughed 
land, stubble fields, and beds of nullahs. It sometimes, though rarely, perches on bushes. It frequently ascends 
suddenly in the air by a few interrupted strokes of its wings, and uttering at the same time a pleasant loud whistling- 
like note, sounding something like { too whee ’ ; it then descends with a sudden fall, changing its note to a low lark-like 
warbling ; when close to the ground, it again repeats this, and so on for several times.” They feed principally on 
various kinds of seeds, and occasionally on insects. 
1. M. javanica Horsf. Linn. Trans, xiii. 1 59. — Alauda Mirafra 4. M. phmnicura Frankl. Proc. Z. S. 1831. 119 
Temm. PI. col. 305. 5. M. ? cantons Jerd. 
2. M. assamica M'Clell. Proc. Z. S. 18 39. 162. 6. M. deserti (Licht.) Cat. Dupl. Berl. Mus. No. 286. Alauda 
3. M. flamcollis M'Clell. Proc. Z. S. 1839- 1 63. isabellina Temm. PI. col. 244. f. 2. 
Certhilauda Szvains * 
Bill lengthened, slender, both mandibles equally curved; the nostrils basal, lateral, rounded, and 
covered by a membrane. Wings long, with the first (quill short, and the third, fourth, and fifth nearly 
equal and longest. Tail moderate and even. Tarsi much longer than the middle toe, slender. Toes 
moderate, the lateral ones equal; with the hind claw more or less lengthened, and straight 
It is in the deserts and the sandy places of South and North Africa, and occasionally in Europe, that these birds are 
observed perched on the top of a hillock or low shrub, when they utter a few whistling notes. Small insects and seeds 
form their food. The nest is usually placed on the ground, at the foot of a bush, in a hollow scratched out by the feet, 
on a bed of dry herbs, lined with feathers plucked from the bird itself. The female deposits therein from three to five 
eggs. 
1. C. africana (Gmel.) Le Vaill. Ois. d’Afr. t. 192., A. Smith, 
111. S. Afr. Zool.pl. 90. f. 1. — Certhilauda longirostris Swains. 
2. C. semitorquata A. Smith, Rep. S. Afr. Exped. p. 47. 
3. C. subcoronata A. Smith, 111. S. Afr. Zool. pi. 90. f. 2. 
4. C. rufopalliata Lafr. Mag. de Zool. 1836. Ois. t. 5g. 
5. C. albofasciata Lafr. Mag.de Zool. 1836. Ois. t. .58. 
6. C. nivosa Swains. B. of W. Afr. 1. 213. 
7. C. Dupontii Vieill. Faun, franc, t. 36. f. 2. 
8. C. desertorum (Stanl.) Pr. Bonap., Salt’s Trav. App. p. 60. •— 
Alauda bifasciata Licht. Rupp. Atlas, t. 5. 
* This genus was originally established by Temminck, under the appellation of Corydalis ; but it becomes necessary to use the above in 
its place, as the latter has been previously employed. Mr. Swainson proposed his name in the Zool. Journ. 1 827, p. 344. In 1840, Count 
Keyserling and Prof. Blasius used Alaemon, which is coequal. ’ 
November, 1844. 
