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Show 1874.] LARKS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA. 631 Genus 9. SPIZOCORYS. Typo. Spizocorys, Sundev. Av. Tent. p. 55 (1873) .... S. conirostris. Remarkable for its minute first primary, which escaped the observation of Professor Sundevall. Wings very much rounded, the primaries and secondaries nearly equal. 10. SPIZOCORYS CONIROSTRIS. Alauda conirostris, Sundev. QEfv. K. Vet. Akad. Forh. Stockh. 1850, p. 99 ; Bp. Consp. i. p. 244 (1850) ; Gray, Handl. B. ii. p. 118 (1870) ; Sharpe, Cat. Afr. B. p. 72 (1871); Gurney, in Anderss. B. Dam. Ld. p. 192 (1872); Ayres, Ibis, 1874, p. 103, pi. iii. fig. 1. Coraphites conirostris, Licht. Nomencl. Av. p. 39 (1854). Calandrella, sp., Bocage, Jorn. Lisb. i. p. 152 (1867). Calandritis minor, Bocage, op. cit. ii. p. 351 (1869). Spizocorys conirostris, Sundev. Av. Tent. p. 55 (1873). Adult female (one of the typical specimens). Above fulvous brown, the feathers of the head and back blackish down their centres, which are very broad, the margins being sandy, more or less inclining to deeper rufous ; all the plumes of the hind neck, rump, and upper tail-coverts, as well as a few of the dorsal feathers, broadly margined with greyish, producing a distinct ashy appearance ; wing-coverts brown, broadly margined with sandy buff, the lesser and median series so broadly as nearly to obscure the dark brown centres to the feathers, the greater coverts with a slight greyish shade on their outer margins; quills lighter brown, with a slight ashy shade, the feathers margined with sandy buff, paling on the extreme edge of the feather, the outer edge of the first primary sandy white for nearly the entire length of the quill; tail blackish, tipped with dull white, with ashy fulvous margins, broader on the centre feathers, which are paler and nearly uniform brown, the two outer feathers margined with sandy buff, occupying part of the inner web and the tip of the outermost; a distinct line of white over and under the eye, with a small patch of blackish feathers in front of the latter ; ear-coverts brown, blackish on upper margin; cheeks white, washed with pale brown on hinder margin, and spotted with black, a narrow line of which runs from the gape to the ear-coverts; throat pure white, with a few black spots on lower portion ; rest of under surface of body sandy rufous, paler and more fulvous on the lower abdomen, the fore neck and chest rather largely spotted with triangular spots of blackish brown; under wing-coverts sandy buff, the lower series inclining to ashy, and resembling the inner lining of the wing. Total length 4 7 inches, culmen 0-5, wing 3-0, tail 1*75, tarsus 075. Eight specimens of this pretty little Lark are before me, as enumerated below; and I appear to have the extremes of summer and winter plumage, with intermediate grades. For the determination of the species I describe one of the typical specimens in my own collection, received in exchange from the Stockholm Museum ; but Mr. Gurney owns an example in still fuller plumage, the specimen |