504 SYSTEM A TIC SYNOPSIS. — PA SSERES— OSCINES. 



have uo prejudices in favor of this arrangement, no convictions to he overcome, and no t)hjection 

 now to transfer the fiimily to a place whicli will put it in line with the A. 0. U. List — i. e. as 

 nearly as is possible in the nature of a, case which traverses the same series of birds in an opposite 

 direction. Our latest monographer, Dr. Sharpe of the British Museum, handles the Alaudidce iu 

 the group of Passeres sturniforines, in the same volume with Sturnidce and Ploceidce ; and the 

 presentation of the family next after Sturnidfe, in the present instance, is in practical con- 

 formity with such an arrangement, as we have no Ploceid(B in America. The fact that Alaii- 

 dida appear to have indifferently 9 or 10 primaries may indicate a natural position between the 

 sets of families in which number of primaries is among the diagnostic features. The musical 

 apparatus is certainly well developed, as testified by the eminent vocal powers of the celebrated 

 Skylark of Europe. The unpractised reader must be careful not to confound the Larks proper 

 with certain birds loosely called "Larks:" thus the Titlarks, or Pipits, though sharing the 

 lengthened, straightened hind claw and elongated inner secondaries of Alaudid(S, belong to an 

 entirely different family, Motacillidce ; wliile the American Field Lark is one of the Icteridce, 

 much farther removed. 



According to shape of hill, structure of nostrils, and apparent number of primaries, the 

 family has been divided into two subfiimilies ; AlaudincE, typified by tlie celebrated Skylark 

 of Europe, and Calandritince, of which our well-known Horned Lark is a typical representa- 

 tive. But the development of the spurious quill is very variable in the series of genera, and 

 does not seem to be correlated with other structural characters of bill, feet, and wings. It is 

 therefore ineligible as a classificatory character in this family, and the supposed distinction 

 between Alaudince and Calandritince fails of effect. I therefore abolish these groups, here- 

 tofore presented in the Key, and proceed directly to consider our two genera — one of them, 

 Alauda, only represented iu our fauna by stragglers or naturalized residents, the other shared 

 by America with other parts of the Northern Hemisphere. These are but a small percentage 

 of the total of about 20 genera of Larks which are recognized by late authorities, and seem to 

 be established. (See Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xiii, 1890, pp. 512-658.) 

 OTOC'ORYS. (Gr. ovs, gen. oitos, ous, ofos, the ear, i. e. plumicorn; and Kopvs, korus, a 

 helmet, also a lark, supposed to be the Kopv86s, korudos, or crested lark of Europe now called 

 Galerita cristata.) Horned Larks. Primaries apparently only 9 (no obvious spurious 

 1st pritnary.) Point of wing formed by the first 3 developed primaries ; inner secondaries 

 elongated. Tail of medium length, nearly even ; middle pair of feathers different in shape and 

 color from the rest. Bill compressed-conoid, acute, shorter than head. Nostrils completely 

 concealed by dense tufts of antrorse feathers. Head not crested, but with erectile plumicorns — 

 a peculiar tuft of feathers over each ear, somewhat like the so-called " horns " of some Owls. 

 Feet of ordinary Alaudine characters, as already given. Coloration peculiar in the presence of 

 yellowish tints and strong black bars on tlie head and breast. Birds of this genus frequent 

 open places, are strictly terrestrial, and never hop when on the ground, like most Passeres ; 

 they are migratory in most localities, and gregarious when not breeding ; nest on the ground, 

 and lay 4-5 speckled eggs ; sing sweetly in the spring time. Eremophila of previous editions 

 of the Key, and of most authors, after BoiE, Isis, 1828, p. 322, preoccupied in ichthyology by 

 Eremophilus Humb. 1805; Otocoris Bp. N. Ann. Sci. Nat. Bolog. ii, 1838, p. 407; but it 

 is better to regard this as a typographical error, even if we have to strain a point to do so, 

 than to uncharitably suppose Bonaparte did not know how to spell Otoconjs ; f<>r we cannot 

 imagine that he meant to compound the word with Gr. Kopis, koris, a bug. The bird is not 

 an " eared bug," or any sort of an earwig, but a lark ! To the single species, with two sub- 

 species, of former editions of the Key, we have now to add eight other races, lately characterized 

 by Henshaw and by Dwight, largely upon geographical considerations. Some of these could 

 not be distinguished if they were not labelled for locality ; and in general, only adult males in 

 the breeding season can be characterized at all. The student of these puzzling birds need not 



