OCR Text |
Show 644 MR. R. B. SHARPE ON THE [Nov. 17, the margins of the feathers, the external web of the outer tail-feather creamy white, the penultimate one broadly margined with the same; over the eye a broad superciliary streak of creamy buff; lores and sides of face buffy wlnte, the cheeks thickly spotted with black, the ear-coverts washed with rufous; throat white, with a few tiny specks of brown on the lower part; rest of under surface isabelline fulvous, the breast washed with fawn rufous and mottled with rufous-brown bars, some of the new triangular-spotted feathers just appearing. Hab. The eastern districts of the Cape colony, ranging from Natal and the Transvaal into Damara Land. Specimens examined. E mus. Brit.:-a, ad. South Africa (F. Campbell), b, c. South Africa (Sir A. Smith). d, 2 ad. Cape of Good Hope. e, f, g, 3 2- Natal (Ayres). h, i, 3. Elephant Vley, Damara Land, Nov. 12th & 29th, 1859 (C J. Andersson). E mus. R. B. S.:-a, juv. Eland's Post, March 15th, 1870 (T. C. Atmore). b, c,d, 3 ?• Eland's Post (T. C. A.), e, 3 . Eland's Post, June 1870 (T. C. A.), f, 3. Transvaal (Ayres). E mus. H. B. Tristram :-a. Natal (Ayres). 16. MIRAFRA CHENIANA*. Megalophonus chenianus, Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 382 (1844); Bp. Consp. i. p. 244 (1850); Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 214 (1867, ex Smith); Ayres, Ibis, 1871, p. 259. Mirafra cheniana, Smith, 111. Zool. S. Afr. Aves, pi. 89. fig. 2 (1849, err. pro fig. 1). Alauda cheniana, Giebel, Thes. Orn. p. 293 (1872). Adult (type of species). Above dark brown, almost blackish, the feathers margined with sandy rufous, especially broad on the hind neck, some few of the scapular feathers with narrow fulvous tips; wings rufous, the coverts having dark brown bases, the greater series dark brown, margined with rufous, shading off into fulvous on extreme edge ; quills dark brown, with very broad rufous margins, the edges of the secondaries more fulvous ; upper tail-coverts dark brown, with ashy fulvous margins; tail dark brown, the two centre feathers margined with rufous, shading off into fulvous towards the tips ; the two outermost feathers pure white, with a touch of brown near the base of the outer, but occupying the half of the inner web of the penultimate feather for all its length, as well as a short distance towards the end of the shaft; feathers above and below the eye, forming a distinct eyebrow, creamy buff; ear-coverts rufous, slightly mottled with dark brown, as also are the cheeks and sides of the neck, which are white; throat white, unspotted; rest of under surface creamy buff, strongly inclining to rufous on the chest, which is marked with triangular spots of dark brown, inclining to streaks on the sides of * The name of Alauda chuana, Smith (Eeport Exp. S. Afr., App. p. 46), probably refers to this species, but was afterwards suppressed by that author. The description, however, is scarcely good enough to allow of a strict identification ; and it seems best to acquiesce in the wishes of Sir Andrew Smith, and suppress the title (cf. Newton, Ibis, 1868, p. 270; Layard, op. cit. 1869, p. 78). |