Perching Birds Marked With Yellow or Orange 



EASTERN HORNED LARKS. 

 474*. Horned Lark (Otocoris alpestris). L. 7.7, W. 

 d\ 4-3; ?t4-i. Hind toe-nail much the longest. Ad. 

 (f, winter. Throat and line over eye distinctly yellow, 

 black feathers over eye lengthened, forming when raised 

 little tufts; breast-patch, sides of throat, line over eye 

 and forecrown black, more or less tipped, especially on 

 head, with yellowish or brownish; back brownish in- 

 distinctly streaked with blackish; nape, wing and tail- 

 coverts pinkish brown; belly white, lower breast dusky, 

 sides pinkish brown; tail mostly black, outer margin of 

 outer feathers white, p 71 , summer. Yellow areas whit- 

 er; black areas more distinct; back pinker. Ad. 9, 

 winter. Similar to o 71 , but throat and line over eye less 

 yellow; black areas smaller; back more distinctly 

 streaked. 9 , summer. More distinctly streaked above. 

 Notes. Call, a tseep, tseep; song, an unmusical, twit- 

 tering warble sung during soaring flight. 



Range. — Eastern North America; breeds in Labrador and region east 

 of Hudson Bay; winters south to South Carolina (chiefly on coast) 

 and in the Mississippi Valley to Illinois. 



474b. Prairie Horned Lark (O. a. praticola). W. 

 o 71 4; 9,3-8. Line over eye white. Similar to No. 

 474, but smaller, line over eye and forehead generally 

 white, the throat often white and never so yellow as 

 in winter specimens of No. 474. 



Range.— Breeds in the Mississippi Valley, south to southern Illinois 

 and Missouri west to eastern Nebraska and Assiniboia; east through 

 northwestern Pennsylvania and central New York to western and 

 northern New England; north to Quebec and Ontario; winters south 

 to South Carolina, Kentucky, and Texas. 



474d. Texan Horned Lark (O. a. giraudi). W. o 71 

 3.9; 9, 3.6. Similar to No. 474b, but somewhat 

 smaller and paler; throat, forehead and line over eye 

 yellow; breast, in males, generally tinged with yellow. 



Range.— Coast of Texas from Galveston to the Rio Grande. 



NORTHERN HORNED LARKS. 

 474a. Pallid Horned Lark (O. a. arcticola). W. 

 71 , 4.4; 9, 4.2. Largest of our Horned Larks; no yel- 

 low in plumage; throat, forehead and line over eye 

 white; back brown with grayish edgings. 



Range. — "In summer, Alaska (chiefly in the interior) with the Val- 

 ley of the Upper Yukon River; in winter south to Oregon, Utah, and 

 Montana." (Oberholser.) 



474k. Hoyt Horned Lark (O. a. hoyti). W. J\ 

 4.4; 9,4-2. Throat tinged with yellow; line over eye 

 white; back darker, pink areas richer than in 474a. 

 An intermediate form between Nos. 474 and 474a 



Range.— "In summer, British America from the west shore of Hud- 

 son Bay to the Valley of the Mackenzie River, north to the Arctic 

 Coast, south to Lake Athabasca; in winter, southward to Nevada, 

 Utah. Kansas, and Michigan, casually to Ohio and New York (Long 

 Island)." (Oberholser.) 



* Fourteen subspecies of this wide-ranging, variable form are now 

 recognized in America, north of Mexico. Many of them are too 

 closely related to be distinguished even by detailed descriptions. When 

 breeding, they may be identified, in life, by a knowledge of the area 

 which each form alone Inhabits at this season. But during their mi- 

 grations, and in winter, when several forms may be associated, it is 

 usually not possible to Identify them in the field. The reader is re- 

 ferred to admirable monographs of this group bv J. Dwight, Jr. (The 

 Auk, vii, 1890, pp. 138-150), and H. C. Oberholser (Proc. U. S. Nat. 

 Mus., xxiv, igo2, pp. 801-884). 



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