THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 95 



little over ten inches in length ; the upper parts are black, 

 feathers all edged with reddish brown; rump, fulvous, 

 feathers barred with black; under parts, rusty fulvous; 

 long wing feathers and tail, dusky, with white shafts, 

 middle of the wing mottled with whitish; winter plum- 

 age and young birds, gray above, feathers edged and 

 streaked with black and white; rump, transversely barred 

 with black and white; under surface, white; neck and 

 sides, mottled with gray; various intermediate plumages 

 occur in spring when the birds are changing; the bill is 

 straight and an inch and a half in length. It feeds on 

 small shell-fish along the beaches. 



JKrieker. See Pectoral Sandpiper. 

 Ijark^ Field. See Meadowlark. 



Ijiirk^ Homed or Shore L,ark. — Length, seven 

 inches; extent, twelve inches; upper surface, ashy brown, 

 tinged with cinnamon, centers of the feathers darked; 

 forehead and line over the eye, pale yellow, center of the 

 head crossed by a black band; both these markings, how- 

 ever, are frequently obscured by brownish tips to the 

 feathers; long wing feathers, dark brown, the outermost 

 edged with white; shoulders, cinnamon; tail feathers, 

 brown, the cential pair broadly edged with cinnamon, the 

 outermost edged with white; general color of under sur- 

 face, white, suffused with brown on the breast, some- 

 times in definite spots; throat, pale yellow; cheeks and 

 crescent- shaped patch on the breast, black, often obscured 

 by light colored tips to the feathers. The female has 

 little or no black on the crown and the yellow on the 

 front is naiTOw and of a dirty tinge. 



The nest is l)uilt on the ground, being a rude contriv- 

 ance of grasses. The eggs are three or four in number, 

 of a pale blue or greenish white, with dark brown spots, 

 four-fifths by three-fifths of an inch in size. 



The birds are winter visitors in New Jersey, going as 



