WESTERN BIRDS Lari= 



Suborder Oscines: Song Birds. 

 GENUS OTOCOEIS : HORNED LARK. 



Horned Lark: Otocoris alpestris alpestris. 

 FAMILY— ALAUDIDiE: LARKS. 



The birds known as Horned Larks are so distinctively 

 marked as to make them easy of identification, but un- 

 fortunately for the person who would know the specific 

 name of the bird he beholds, they are divided into four- 

 teen subspecies in America, only three of which are 

 found in the eastern half of the United States, the rest 

 being western birds. 



All of these Larks are essentially ground birds, fre- 

 quenting open stretches, rarely lighting on trees, and 

 always building their nests on the ground. They are 

 gregarious birds and except at the nesting season go 

 about in flocks, running rather than hopping over the 

 ground, rising in a compact flock, giving a sharp whistle 

 as they go, if they are disturbed, and oftentimes circling 

 and returning to their former feeding ground, once the 

 disturber has passed along. Living in regions of little 

 water, they take a dust bath rather than a water one. 

 Most of them have a pleasing song which at the nesting 

 season is given on the wing. It is this method of sing- 

 ing which has made their relative, the old world Sky- 

 lark, famous. This Skylark has been introduced into 

 the United States at various times, and it is believed 

 that a few of them may still be found near Flatbush, 

 Long Island. 



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