THE OOLOGIST 



43 



■ern New York" as a winter resident, 

 and whose term of visitation alternates 

 with that of praticola. 



In 1884 when Langille presented his 

 "Our Birds in Their Haunts" to -the 

 public the division line between alpef;- 

 iris and praticola had not grown up 

 and the birds ranging from Western 

 New York to Labrador are by him in- 

 cluded under the one head of Eremo- 

 phila alpeslris. He says, "Until very 

 recently the breeding habit of this spe- 

 cies has been assigned wholly to the 

 far north, but it is now well undei'stood 

 that it breeds abundantly in the lake 

 ■counties ef Western New York and 

 more or less to the eastward as far as 

 Troy." 



Since the settling of the present code 

 of nomenclature most writers have, I 

 believe, considered our bird as prati- 

 ■cola entirely. 1 have shot, measured, 

 compared and studied specimens at 

 various seasons in a vain endeavor to 

 separate them into two varieties. The 

 result has been confusion, worse con- 

 founded. At last I am compelled to 

 admit that I have secured no specimens 

 which I could ascribe to other than al- 

 peslris [? Ed ] and the result of ett'orts I 

 submit for what they may be worth. 



Langille gives the measurements as 

 7-7.30 inches length. The length of a 

 series which I took during the winter 

 ■of '96-'97 were as follows; 



Jan. 9, male, length 6.56; Feb. 1, fe- 

 male, length 6 65; Feb. 1, male, length 

 G 68; Feb. 2, male, length 6.58; Feb. 2, 

 male, length 6.58; Feb. 2, male, length 

 5.81; Feb. 4; male, length 6.80; Feb. 13, 

 male, length 6.40; Feb. 16, male, length 

 6 75 (dark breeding plumage); Fee. 16, 

 femiile, length G.40; Feb. 18, male, 

 length 6.74; Feb. 18. V, length 6 60. 



As the above list were shot at i-an- 

 •dom they probably represent very well 

 the average length of specimens of this 

 particular locality (these specimens 

 were all secured in the town of York, 

 Livingston Co.) ■It would also seem 



that at this season the males are decid- 

 edly in the majority, as will appear 

 from an inspection of the foregoing 

 scale, and it appears v^ry probable that 

 as the birds begin and become abund- 

 ant preceding the breeding season that 

 the males airive somewhat in advance 

 of the females as is the case with many 

 other species of birds. 



Langille gives the following descrip- 

 tion of the Horned Lark, "7-7.50 inches 

 long (as will be seen an average of my 

 specimens is 6 56 inches), somewhat 

 larger than our ordinary sized, its 

 shape being about as peculiar as its 

 voice. The bill is rather long for a 

 song bird, quite pointed and a little 

 curved; on its head are two tufts of 

 erectile black feathers from which it 

 receives part of its common name. As 

 in -the case of other birds, but unlike 

 the rest of song-birds, the scales of the 

 leg extend around behind; and its 

 is very long and straight. This Lark 

 is always in a squatting position with 

 drooping tail when at rest. With a 

 long black patch on either .cheek; a 

 somewhat triangular black spot on the 

 upper part of the breast, reddish light 

 brown above and dull white beneath, 

 with yellow throat, long pointed wings 

 tipped with black and a tail of the same 

 color, a peculiar undulating flight often 

 accompanied with a soft tseep or Iseej)- 

 ses, whether sitting, walking or flying, 

 this bird readily appeals to the eye of 

 the observer." 



To this description I will add that 

 the intensity of tints varies greatly in 

 different individuals and at different 

 seasons, the black ranging from a grey- 

 ish, faded tint to jetty; the yellow from 

 very faint to well defined; und the 

 white from dirty sickly white to a much 

 nearer approach to clear white; this 

 largely irrespective of sex, but con- 

 forming largely to seasons as the deep- 

 ening of shades increases in general 

 with the approaching breeding season 

 and declines with its departure. Ten 



