(LARK-LIKE CORYPHISTERA.)
+Coryphistera alaudina+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 470 (Paraná);
_Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 64; _Salv. Ibis_, 1880, p. 359
(Tucuman, Salta); _White, P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 40 (Cordova).
_Description._--Above dark greyish brown; elongated crest-feathers
blackish; ear-coverts chestnut; on the back, upper tail-coverts, and
upper wing-coverts the feathers have white and whity-brown edgings;
wing-feathers blackish, the basal part of the inner webs pale brown;
rectrices bright chestnut, broadly tipped with blackish; beneath
white, thickly striated with fulvous brown; under wing-coverts pale
cinnamon; bill and feet light brown: whole length 6·2 inches, wing
2·7, tail 2·3. _Female_ similar.
_Hab._ Argentina.
This highly interesting little bird, the only known member of its genus,
inhabits the dry plains of Paraná and Cordova.
The following meagre note from White, which only serves to excite
curiosity, comprises all that we know of its habits:--
"These birds are not found in dense woods, but in the open, tenanted
only by a few small trees or bushes. Five or six are usually seen
running about together with a quick, abrupt movement, meanwhile uttering
a sharp cry."