358 
SAVAGE SUDAN 
A. arenicolor , a delicate pale cinnamon-hued bird. Its wings are 
slightly darker-tipped and the tail more rufous, with sub-terminal bar; 
but these are the only “ blemishes” in an otherwise uniformly bleached 
and desert-like plumage. 
A notable characteristic of these two desert-dwellers—and one 
which they share with the species next to be described, the ant-chat 
(as well as with the black wheatear, Dromolcea leucura) —is the habit 
of barricading the entrance to their subterranean homes with a 
banquette of pebbles outside, as shown in the photographs annexed. 
In Spain this curious custom has gained for the black wheatear its 
Spanish title of Pedrero (= “ Stone-mason ”). 
Photo . No. 3.—Nest of Ammomanes deserti , placed deep under 
a stone—for shade; and, for coolness, facing N.E. towards 
the prevailing wind. This nest, on April 9th, contained two 
young of about three days 5 growth, clad in erect fluffy white 
down—Sinkat, 2900 feet. 
Photo. No. 4.—Another nest of the same species, but situate 
inside a rock-cranny. It was ready for eggs on April 9th. 
Very large pebbles, it will be seen, surround its entrance. 
Ant-Chat ( Cercomela scotocerca). —This bird has also adopted 
the curious habit of piling up a banquette of stones outside its front 
door—as shown in section-sketch at p. 365. This nest (built of dry 
grass and lined with goats’ hair) was placed far in beneath an earth- 
fast rock, the entrance-slit barely wide enough for the owner to squeeze 
through. The rampart numbered 130 pebbles ! This was near Erkowit, 
4000 feet, where the ant-chat was common; but, though we found 
several nests—(some betrayed by the pebbles outside)—no eggs were 
laid up to the date of our leaving the hills on April 10th. 
Crested Lark ( Alauda cristata). —Like Certhilauda , this is 
universally distributed throughout the desert-regions — along the 
littoral, on the mountains, and in the interior deserts alike. Yet 
though a true desert-denizen, it is less prone to assume an assimilative 
desert-dress. 
The crested lark is a much earlier breeder. On the coast I found 
occupied nests as early as the first week in February (1919), these 
being very slight structures built on open desert, though often 
sheltered by some projecting stone or by the root of a sand-smothered 
shrub. The eggs invariably numbered two and were boldly spotted. 
At Erkowit, 4500 feet, one pair had already hatched their young 
on April 6th, though three days later another pair were-busy building. 
