280 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



Family ALAUDIDiE. The Skylarks. 



First primary very short or wanting; tarsi scutellate anteriorly and posteriorly, 

 witli tlie plates nearly of corresponding position and number; hind claw very long 

 and nearly straight; bill short, conicnl, frontal feathers extending along the side of 

 the bill ; the nostrils usually concealed by a tuft of bristly feathers directed forwards; 

 tertials greatly elongated beyond the secondaries. 



EREMOPIIILA, BoiE. 



Eremopliila, Boie, Isis (1828), 322. (Type Alauda alpesiris.) SufBcientlj- distinct 

 from £reinoj)}iilus, Humboldt (Fishes, 1805). 



First primary wanting; bill scarcely higher than broad; nostrils circular, con- 

 cealed by a dense tuft of feathers; the nasal fossa; oblique; a pectoral crescent and 

 cheek patches of black. 



EREMOPHIL A COENUTA. — Boie. 



The Skylark; Shore-lark. 



Eastern and Northern variety. 

 Alauda cornuta, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 85. 

 Eremopliila cornvta, Boie. Isis (1828), 322. 



Alauda alpesiris, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 85. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 455. 

 Aud. Qrn. Biog., II. (1834) 570; V. 448. 



Description. 



Above pinkish-brown, the feathers of the back streaked with dusky; a broad 

 band across the crown, extending backwards along the lateral tufts; a crescentic 

 patch from the bill below the e3'e and along the side of the head; a jugular crescent, 

 and the tail feathers, black; the innermost of the latter like the back; a frontal band 

 extending backw;irds over the eye, and under parts, with outer edge of wings and 

 tail, white; chin and throat yellow. 



Length of Pennsylvania specimens, seven and seventy-five one-hundredths 

 inches; wing, four and fifty one-hundredths inches; tail, three and twenty -five one- 

 hundredths inches; bill, above, fifty-two one-huudredths of an inch. 



THIS bird is found in New England only as a winter 

 visitor. It makes its appearance by the latter part of 

 November, in flocks of thirty or forty, which repair to the 

 salt-marshes, and low pastures and fields, where they remain 

 during their stay with us. Here they feed on the seeds of 

 various grasses and weeds, and such insects as they may be 



