BROWN LARK. 157 



brow ; these are longer, more pointed, and of a dififerent texture from 

 tlie rest around them ; and the bird possesses the power of erecting them 

 so as to appear as if horned, like some of the Owl tribe. Having kept 

 one of these birds alive for some time I was much amused at this odd 

 appearance ; and think it might furnish a very suitable specific appella- 

 tion, viz., Alauda eornuta, or Horned Lark. These horns become 

 scarcely perceivable after the bird is dead. The head is slightly crested. 

 Shore Lark and Sky Lark are names by which this species is usually 

 known in different parts of the Union. They are said to sing well ; 

 mounting in the air, in the manner of the Song Lark of Europe ; but 

 this is only in those countries where they breed. I have never heard of 

 their nests being found within the territory of the United States. 



Species III. ALAUDA RUF A* 



BROWN LARK. 



[Plate XLII. Fig. 4.] 



Red Lark, Edw. 1^1.— Ard. Zool. No. 279.— Latham, ii., Zlfj.—VAlouette aux 

 joues hrunes de Pensylvanie, Buff, v.,^ 58. 



In what particular district of the northern regions this bird breeds, I 

 am unable to say. In Pennsylvania it first arrives from the north about 

 the middle of October ; flies in loose scattered flocks ; is strongly 



* This bird is common to Europe and America, and as many nominal species have 

 been made of it we quote the following synonymes from Prince Musignano's obser- 

 vations in the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. iv., 

 p. 182-3. 



Synonymes of the American specimens: — Alauda rubra, Gmel. Lath. — Alauda 

 ludoviciana, Gmel. Lath. — Alauda pensylvanica, BRiss.—^iFarlouzanne, Buff. Ois. 

 — Alouette aux joues brunes de Pensylvanie, Buff. Ois. — Lark from Pennsylvania, 

 Edw. Glean, pi. 297. — Red Lark, Penn. Brit, and Arct. Zool. Lath. Syn. — Louisiana 

 Lark, Lath. Syn. 



Synonymes of the European specimens : — Anihus aquaiicus, Bechst. Meter. 

 ViEiLL. Noiiv. Diet. Temm. — Alauda spinoletta, Linn. (Ought not this specific name 

 to be restored ?) — Alauda campestris /?. spinoletta, Gmel. Lath. — Alauda obscura, 

 Gmel. Lath, (young). Alauda petrosa, Montagu, Trans. Linn. Soc. Loud, (young). 

 — Anihus rupestris, Nilsson, Orn. Suee.^-Aloueite pipi. (by error) Buff. PL Enl. 

 661, f. 2. — Meadow Lark, var. A. Lath. Syn. — Dusky Lark, Lath. Syn. (young). — 

 Anthusmontanus, Koch. Bayerische Zool. — The latter nominal species, as Temminck 

 observes, was formed of an adult male, as it appears during the few days of breed- 

 ing, when they have a roseate tint on the neck, breast, upper part of the belly and 

 flanks. 



