PASSEEES. 
Series C. Stuenoid Passeees. 
Wing with primaries, the first of which is rudimentary. (Wallace, Ibis, 1874, p. 412.) 
Earn. ALAUDID^. 
Bill variable, more or less conical and slender in some, stout and slightly curved in others ; 
tip entire. Wings pointed, with the 1st quill normally present, but absent in one or two recog- 
nized genera of the family*; the tertials elongated. Legs more or less slender. The tarsus 
scutate both before and behind', claws straight; the hind claw generally elongated. Head in 
most crested. 
Genus ALAUDA. 
Bill rather conical, but slender, the culmen slightly curved. Nostrils concealed hy a tuft 
of hair-like feathers. Wings moderate, pointed ; the 1st quill minute, less than the primary- 
coverts ; the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quills suhequal, the 3rd usually the longest. Tail moderately 
long, emarginate at the tip, the centre feathers shorter than the lateral ones. Tarsus moderate, 
equal to the middle toe and its claw, covered in front and behind with broad transverse scales, 
those behind being smoother than those in front ; inner anterior claw longer than the outer ; 
hind claw very long and straight. 
ALAUDA GULGULA. 
(THE INDIAN SKY-LAEK.) 
Alauda gulyula, Franklin, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 119 ; Jerdon, Cat. B. South India, Madr. Journ. 
1840, xi. p. 30 ; Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 132 (1849); Kelaart, Prodroraus, Cat. 
p. 126 (1852); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiii. p. 259; Jerdon, B. of Ind. 
ii. p. 434 (1863); Brooks, Ibis, 1869, p. 60; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 465; Hume, 
Str. Feath. 1873, p. 487, note; id. Lahore to Yarkand, p. 269, pi. 29 (1873); id. Nests 
* The variation in the wing in this family is very remarkable, and precludes the satisfactory classification of the 
Larks as a group according to a given wing-formula. They appear to me, notwithstanding, to be better located in this 
series next the Pipits (the last family of the preceding group), than actually with them, because the 1st quill is normally 
present as an abortive or rudimentary feather, and the wing is consequently of Sturnoid formation. In the character of 
their plumage, as a rule, and in the structure of the foot, the Larks are allied to the Pipits through the genus Corydalla ; 
and some genera, such as Otocoris (the horned Larks), might perhaps be placed in the latter family. The peculiar structure 
of the tarsus, in haGng scales behind as w'ell as before, is, however, common to Otocoris, as well as to other genera ; but 
the scales are scarcely perceptible with the naked eye. Were it not for its conical bill and short tertials, Otocoris would 
have quite the aspect of a Pipit, and may, I think, be considered as a connecting link between the Motacillidae and the 
Alaudida). 
