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Show 1874.j LARKS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA. 643 feathers with a distinct blackish shaft-streak down the centre and margined with ashy fulvous; the rump slightly more ashy than the back, narrowly streaked with brown; the upper tail-coverts shading off into light fulvous and having dark brown shaft-stripes; wing-coverts fawn-colour, darker brown in the centre of the feather, margined with fulvous and streaked with dark brown along the shaft, the greater coverts light rufous towards their tips ; primary coverts rufous fawn, with narrow whitish margins; quills rufous fawn, gradually shading off into dark brown, which occupies about the terminal third of the quills, which are margined with ashy white or fawn-colour : the secondaries brown, washed with fawn-colour externally, and broadly margined and tipped with ashy buff; tail dark brown, the feathers margined with ashy buff, especially the two centre ones, which are rufous fawn at base, extending some way up the margins of the feathers, a shade of the same colour extending over the other feathers near their base, the outer feather creamy buff on the outer web, the penultimate one narrowly margined externally with the same colour; crown of head bright fawn-colour, with a few narrow shaft-lines of dark brown, the forehead minutely streaked, giving it a certain obscurely mottled appearance; lores and a rather broad eyebrow buffy white, as also the sides of the face, the cheeks and ear-coverts minutely spotted with dark brown, the ear-coverts washed with rufous, and inclining to dark brown on their upper margin ; throat white, the rest of the under surface isabelline buff, washed with bright fawn-colour, minutely spotted with dark brown on the lower throat and chest, and streaked with the same on the sides of the breast; under wing-coverts entirely rich fawn-colour, a little brighter than the inner lining of the wing, which is rufous and very conspicuous; "upper mandible dusky, lower mandible pale; tarsi and feet pale ; iris light hazel" (Ayres). Total length 7 inches, culmen 0-8, wing 4-0, tail 3 0 , tarsus 1*3. Adult female. Smaller than male, and with a much thinner bill. Total length 6-8 inches, culmen 075, wing 3*5, tail 2 7 , tarsus 1*2. Winter plumage. Much darker brown than in summer, and not nearly so rufous on the upper surface, the rufous of the crown entirely obscured by the broad dark-brown shaft-stripes, and the forehead entirely brown, shaded with ashy and slightly tinged with rufous; the hinder back and rump decidedly shaded with ashy; below rather more richly coloured than in summer, the breast largely marked with triangular spots of dark brown; hind neck decidedly more ashy, separating the head from the back. Young. Obscure brown, with hardly any rufous shade above; the hind neck washed with ashy fulvous ; all the feathers very broadly black in the centre, and subterminally barred with a crescentic black line, very conspicuous before the fulvous tips to the feathers, more distinct 'on the wing-coverts, which incline to light fawn-colour; quills much as in adult, and rufous at base, the inner secondaries dark brown, with a distinct ashy whitish margin, before which runs another subterminal line of black ; tail brown, shaded with ashy on |