OCR Text |
Show 624 MR. R. B. SHARPE ON THE [Nov. 17, edged ; upper tail-coverts rufous, with distinct blackish shaft-streaks ; tail dark brown, with pale edgings of fulvous brown, the two centre feathers broadly and the two outermost narrowly margined with cinnamon-rufous; lores and a distinct eyebrow creamy buff; feathers in front of the eye blackish; under the eye another line of creamy-buff feathers; ear-coverts cinnamon ; cheeks and throat dull white, varied with a few blackish spots ; rest of under surface buffy white, slightly rufescent on the sides of the body, the fore neck and breast thickly spotted with dark brown, the spots becoming narrower and more longitudinal on the sides of the breast and flanks ; thighs rufous ; under tail-coverts white, the shafts rufous, the longest plumes rufous, with black shafts and a whitish tip ; under wing coverts ashy brown, like the inner lining of the wing; "bill light reddish brown, the lower mandible pale buff orange towards the base; legs and toes intermediate between broccoli and yellowish brown, and tinted with flesh-red ; claws light reddish brown ; iris bright brown; eyebrow rusty white" (Sir A. Smith). Total length 7 inches, culmen 0*7, wing 3-65, tail 3'8, tarsus 1*05. Winter plumage. Entirely different from the summer dress. Above ashy grey, with a slight sandy-coloured tinge, the black central stripes broad but obscure, rather plainer on the middle of the back and scapularies, which are rather broadly margined with creamy white; wing-coverts dark greyish brown, with ashy margins to least series, the greater and median series broadly edged with whitish ; quills dark brown, margined with ashy, the secondaries broadly edged with whitish ; rump and upper tail-coverts rather more distinctly washed with sandy colour than the back, the latter with dark brown shaft-stripes ; tail-feathers dark brown, the centre feathers shaded with greyish and plainly margined with ashy white, the outermost feathers having also a slight edging of the same ; eyebrow and streak below the eye white ; feathers in front of the latter blackish ; ear-coverts uniform ashy grey like the back, but without dark shaft-streaks ; hinder part of cheeks washed with ashy grey ; fore part of cheeks and throat white, with an indistinct moustachial line of blackish spots; sides of neck and under-surface of body white, with triangular blackish spots from the lower throat to the breast, changing into longitudinal streaks on the sides of the breast and flanks and under tail-coverts ; sides of the body inclining to greyish, as also the thighs ; under wing-coverts and wing-lining entirely ashy brown ; " bill, legs, toes, and claws deep orange-coloured brown, shaded with brownish red, the lower mandible towards the base sienna-yellow" (Sir A. Smith). Considerable confusion exists in the synonymy of this Lark, principally due to the late Sir A. Smith. It will be seen that I unite his two species, A. lagepa and A. codea, into one, as I believe that they are nothing but the summer and winter plumage of the same bird. However curious this may seem, I think that it is not to be refuted on an examination of the specimens which I have before me. The Museum never obtained the type of A. lagepa |