770. Certhilauda desertorum, Stanley.

Alauda, apud Stanley - Blyth, Cat. 738 - Horsf., Cat. 702 -  Al. bifasciata, LICHT. - Temm. Pl, Col. 393 - RUppell, P. Abyss., pl. 5 - Saxicola pallida, Blyth, J. A. S. XVI. 130.

The Desert-lark.

Descr. - Light isabella grey above, more fulvescent on the scapulars, tertiaries, and two middle tail-feathers, which are shaded with pale dusky along the middle ; lores, superciliary stripe, throat and belly, white; the breast feathers dusky, with broad whitish margins concealing the dark colour within; ear-coverts blackish at the tip; wings deep dusky black ; primaries and secondaries pure white at base ; the shorter primaries also white tipped, and the small wing-coverts margined with pale fulvescent; tail, except the two middle feathers, deep dusky black, the outermost feathers having  its  narrow outer web almost wholly white, and   the penultimate with a narrow white edge on the outer web. The colours of the female are duller.

Length 9 inches; wing 5 1/4; tail 4 1/8; tarsus 1 3/8.

This Desert-lark of Africa and Arabia, and a rare straggler to the South of Europe, has been found in India only in Sindh, where observed by the late Dr. Gould; but it will probably hereafter be found throughout the great desert tracts of the N. W. Provinces. It Is said to run fast, to live on seeds, and to be a fine songster. An Indian example is much darker than the figure in Ruppell, generally- considered the same bird.

Tristram has an interesting account of this species (Ibis, vol. 1., p. 427.) ''At first sight It reminded me much of a Plover, in the manner in which it rose and scudded away. Indeed, there is nothing of the Lark In Its flight, except In early morning, when I have watched It rise perpendicularly to some elevation, and then suddenly drop, repeating these gambols uninterruptedly over exactly the same spot for nearly an hour, accompanying itself by a loud whistling song. It runs with great rapidity." Alauda leautaungensis, Swinhoe, from the plains of the Peiho, by its long and somewhat curved bill, may be a Certhilauda, but, being crested, perhaps is more properly a Galerida. 

Some of the African species are said to Inhabit desert, sandy places. Interspersed with brushwood, or wild grassy plains ; and, when not seeking their food, are commonly seen resting upon small hillocks, or even perched on a low shrub, occasionally- uttering a few whistling notes. Several are colored quite as the typical Larks, striated above and spotted on the breast, and these are said to affect grassy situations.