212 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



middle pair of lail-feathers dusky centrally, otherwise 

 brown with paler margins ; next pair similar in color 

 but darker ; others, dusky, the outermost with most of 

 outer web and portion of inner web next to shaft 

 (except basally) dull white, the next with outer web 

 edged with white ; a broad but not sharply defined 

 stripe of pale brownish buff over eye; sides of heW. 

 brown, indistinctly streaked with darker ; lores, dull 

 whitish ; cheeks, similar in color to sides of head but 

 paler and more distinctly streaked ; under parts, dull 

 bufify white, strongly tinged on chest, sides, and flanks 

 with tawny buff, the last two narrowly and rather 

 indistinctly streaked with darker, the first more broadly 



and very distinctly and sharply streaked with brownish- 

 black ; under wing-coverts, pale wood-brown ; bill, 

 pale brownish-buffy ; iris, brown ; legs and feet, 

 brownish. 



Nest and Eggs.— Nest: Always on ground, under 

 a tuft of grass, alongside a rock or clod of earth, in 

 open fields; constructed of plant stems, few leaves, and 

 grasses, and lined with finer blades of the latter. Eggs: 

 3 to 5, varying from grayish to greenish-white thickly 

 sprinkled with spots of drab and grayish-brown. 



Distribution. — Europe in general, except Mediter- 

 ranean district ; accidental in Greenland and the Ber- 

 mudas, and introduced into the United States. 



Several attempts have been made to introduce 

 the Skylark from England into America, but all 

 apparently have failed. In 1887 a few seemed 

 to have taken up their abode in the fields near 

 the old village of Flatbush ( now a part of 

 Brooklyn), on Long Island, and one nest with 

 young was found that year in that vicinity. In 

 1895 another nest and a singing bird were found 



in the same locality, and according to a respon- 

 sible observer the species was still represented in 

 that vicinity in 1907, which seems to be the last 

 authentic record of its appearance in this country. 

 It is not improbable that some of the Larks may 

 have lingered in the Flatbush region for a few 

 years after the date named, but in all probability 

 the species is now extinct in America. 



HORNED LARK 

 Otocoris alpestris alpestris (Linncnis) 



A. O. U. Number 474 See Color Plate (..9 



Other Names. — Northern Horned Lark ; Winter 

 Horned Lark ; Shore Lark ; Prairie Bird ; Road 

 Trotter; Wheat Bird; Spring Bird; Life Bird. 



General Description. — Length y'\ inches. Upper 

 parts, pinkish-brown ; under parts, white ; a black cres- 

 cent under each eye, and a third one on the breast. 



Color. — Adult Male : A broad patch covering 

 front half of crown and rear half of forehead and 

 extending backward laterally to back of head, ivhcrc 

 involving an elongated erectile tuft of narrozv feathers, 

 black; front of forehead and broad stripe over eye, 

 pale straw-yellow ; lores, space below eye, and lower 

 front part of sides of head, black, this black area 

 bordered behind by light straw-yellow from lower rear 

 margin of eye backward and downward across middle 

 part of ear region, confluent below with the more 

 decidedly yellow area covering chin and throat ; upper 

 and rear margin of sides of head, grayish-brown ; a broad, 

 somewhat crescentic, patch of black across upper chest 

 invading center lower portion of throat; middle rear 

 portion of crown, back of head, hindneck, lesser wing- 

 coverts, and terminal portion (broadly) of middle wing- 

 coverts, dull red, the upper tail-coverts similar but 

 ratlier more cinnamon, the longer tapering coverts, 

 grayish-brown edged with paler ; back, shoulders, and 

 rump, grayish-brown, the feathers edged with paler, 

 and with a central wedge-shaped area of dusky, these 

 markings larger on lower back and rump ; wings (ex- 

 cept lesser and middle coverts), deep grayish-brown 

 with paler edgings, the outermost primary broadly 



edged witli white; tail, black, the middle pair of 

 feathers, grayish-brown with basal half (except cen- 

 trally) more wood-brown margined with dull whitish, 

 the two lateral pairs edged exteriorly with white (ex- 

 cept basally), the outermost with terminal portion 

 of inner web light grayish; under parts of body, 

 white, the sides and flanks, dull red streaked 

 with dusky; bill, black; iris, dark brown; legs 

 and feet, black. Adult female: Smaller and much 

 duller in color than the male, the whole crown 

 grayish-brown streaked with dusky, black area on side 

 of head reduced in extent, duller black or merely 

 dusky, the feathers narrowly tipped with dull whitish 

 (except in worn midsummer plumage) ; throat patch 

 also reduced in size ; stripe, space over eye. throat, etc., 

 paler and duller yellow ; upper parts, more extensively 

 streaked with little red showing on hindneck or upper 

 tail-coverts; otherwise essentially as in the male. Im- 

 mature: Similar, but black obscured with yellowish. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : On ground among moss 

 or tuft of grass; constructed of grass and lined with 

 finer blades and feathers. Eggs: 3 or 4, greenish-gray, 

 thickly spotted with dark olive and pale lavender. 



Distribution. — Breeding in northeastern British 

 .'\mcrica, east of Hudson Bay, from Newfoundland. 

 Labrador, and head of James Bay northward; in 

 winter migrating west to Manitoba and the Mississippi 

 valley (eastern portion, chiefly) and southward to 

 Illinois. Ohio, and the Carolinas, casually to Louisiana 

 and the Bermudas ; accidental in Greenland. 



