508 SYSTE.VA TIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES — OSCINES. 



speckled all over with iireenish-browu and reddisli-bmwu. Specimens frwin the Californian 

 Islands have also been called 0. a. insularis Towns. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. xiii, 1890, p. 140. 

 O. a. mer'rilli. (To Dr. J. C Merrill, U. S. A.) Merrill's Horned Lark. Dusky 

 Horned Lark. Most like tlie last in size and color ; ^ wing 4.00; " more broadly streaked 

 above and blacker than. strigata, with less yellow about the head and throat, the nape pinker." 

 Interior of Oregon, Washingtcjn, and British Columbia, between the Cascade range and the 

 Rocky Mts., S. in winter to California and Nevada. 0. a. merrilli Dwight, Auk, Apr. 1890, 

 p. 153, area on the map marked " 10" ; A. 0. U. List, 2d ed. 1895, No. 474 i. From these 

 two dark forms we turn to three reddish ones, as follows : 



O. a. chrysolaema. (Gr. xpv<reos, chruseos, golden ; Xaifios, laimos, throat.) Mexican Horned 

 L.\RK. Smaller than alpestris proper: ^ wing scarcely or not 4.00; a very small specimen, 

 probably 9, has the wing only 8.50; in another, marked ^, it is 3.75. The pinkish tinge 

 intensified into cinnamon-brown, and pervading all the upper parts except middle of back, 

 which is contrasted with nape; yellow of head intensified, but breast white; black markings 

 very heavy, — the black on the crown widened to occupy more than half the cap, reducing the 

 white frontlet to a mere trace. Coast region of California, N. to Nicasio; coast region of 

 Lower Calift)rnia, northerly ; and most of Mexico. U. S. specimens whicth have been referred 

 to chrijsolccma belong mostly to adusta or rubea, both of which were included under chri/so- 

 Iccmn in earlier eds. of the Key. Alauda rufa AuD., type examined, agrees with rubea, but 

 habitat assigned includes other races; name unavailable also as antedated hy A. rufa Gm., 

 1788, which is our Titlark. See Hensh. Auk, July, 1884, p. 261 ; Dwight, Auk, Apr. 1890, 

 p. 149, separate areas marked "7"; A. O. U. Lists, No. 474 e. 



O. a. atlus'ta. (Lat. scorched; adurere, to burn, parch, scorch.) Scorched Horned 

 Lark. "Similar to chrysokema, but of a uniform scorched pinkish or vinaceous-cinnamon 

 above," without (*()ntrast of color between nape and middle of back; lower parts creamy white, 

 reddish-tinged ; ^ wing about 4.00. S. W. U. S. in W. Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and 

 probably parts of Utah, Nevada, and S. Cala. ; S. into Mexico. E. chrysolcema of American 

 writers, for the most part, and of previous eds. of the Key, in part. 0. a. adusta Dwight, 

 Auk, Apr. 1890, p. 148, area on map marked " 6 " ; A. 0. U. List, 2d ed. 1895, No. 474 h. 

 O. a. ru'bea. (Lat. red.) Ruddy Horned Lark. " Bright rufous suffusing the whole 

 plumage and merging into the ruddy brown of the back without abrupt change, distinguishes 

 this race from chri/solcema ; " ^ wine 3.90. " General color above, deep cinnamon or ferrugi- 

 nous; throat bright yellow ; streaks on dorsum nearly obsolete." An extremely local race, of 

 the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys in California. Hensh. Auk, July, 1884, ]>. 267; 

 Dwight, Auk, Ai)r. 1890, [u 150, small area on map marked " 8" ; A. O. U. List, 2d ed. 

 1895, No. 474/ 



ALAU'DA. (h-dt. alauda, ii lurk; supposed Celtic al, high, and aud, song.) Skylarks. 

 Primaries 10; spurious 1st primary minute but evident. Head subcrested, but without lateral 

 ear-tufts. Wings long, pointed, the tip formed by first 3 developed primaries ; inner sec- 

 ondaries long and flowing. Tail emarginate, little more than half as long as wing. Tarsus 

 equal to middle toe and claw. Lateral toes of unequal lengths. Sexes alike. Nest on the 

 ground. Eggs 3-6, thickly speckled. 



A. arven'sis. (Lat. arvemis, relating, to arable land ; arvttm, a ploughed field.) Skylark. 

 Upper parts grayish-brown, the feathers with darker centres; under parts whitish, tinged 

 with buff across breast and along sides, where streaked with dusky; a pale superciliary line; 

 wings with much whitish edging; outer tiiil-feather mostly white; next one or two with white 

 borders. Length of ^ 7.50; extent 14.75; wing about 4.00; tail 2.50; bill 0.50 ; tarsus 

 or middle toe and claw 1.00; hind toe 0.45, its claw up to nearly 1.00. 9 smaller. Eggs 

 0.90 X 0.60. This celebrated bird, whose music so often ius))ires the poet, occurs as a 

 straggler from Europe in Greenland and Bermuda. It has repeatedly been imported and 



