374 ANIMAL LIFE IN THE YOSEMITE 



means of identifying the Gray, only the few structural features indicated 

 above ; and these are so small that, even with series of specimens, doubtless 

 as a result of individual variation, uncertainty as to the exact allocation 

 of some particular specimen now and then confronts us. 



Of all the Empidonaces, the Gray Flycatcher is largest and grayest ; the 

 contrast, when specimens are compared, between the Gray and, say, the 

 Hammond, is quite apparent. But it must still be urged that such differ- 

 ences are not great enough to serve in identification at a distance, with 

 the birds flitting about elusively amid surroundings of varied light and 

 shade. 



The Gray Flycatcher, when settled for the summer, is a bird of the 

 arid Great Basin fauna. It enters the Yosemite region in the environs 

 of Mono Lake, where our limited information suggests its restriction to 

 the tracts of sagebrush and Kunzia where these bushes reach largest size. 

 In this sort of 'chaparral,' the Gray Flycatcher doubtless nests, as does 

 its near relative, the Wright, in the darker-hued, more typical chaparral 

 of the Sierras. It is interesting to note that the Wright Flycatcher, as 

 a breeding bird, was found to extend eastward down the slopes of Lee- 

 vining Peak nearly or quite to the edge of Mono Lake; it there becomes 

 a close neighbor of its very near relative, the Gray Flycatcher. 



Horned Larks. Otocoris alpestris (Linnaeus) 2° 



Field characters. — In size somewhat larger than Linnet; decidedly smaller than 

 Meadowlark; length about 6 inches. A patch on breast, one on either side of head, 

 and a bar acro!-s forehead, black; tail blackish with narrow white margins; upper surface 

 of body light brown, more or less darkly streaked; under surface whitish. Adult male 

 has a short 'horn' (tuft of black feathers) above each eye. When on ground walks 

 rather than hops; runs with celerity. Voice: Call notes faint and high pitched, see- 

 weetle, see-tle, or sleet; song, a series of tinkling notes, teet, toot, teet-teetle-eetle-eetle, 

 which is uttered most persistently when the bird circles about high overhead. 



Occurrence. — Common resident on the plains of the San Joaquin Valley (Lower 

 Sonoran Zone) ; occasionally visits small open meadows in foothills west of main Sierra 

 Nevada (race actio). Also occurs, at least in summer, locally, east of the Sierras (race 

 merrilli). Casual in fall and winter at Smith Creek east of Coulterville, and above Ten 

 Lakes. Live on the ground in open country, usually in loose flocks. 



The Horned Lark is a bird of the open country, inhabiting the plains 

 of the San Joaquin Valley and the adjacent rolling grasslands. It also 

 occurs here and there on the meadows in the adjacent western foothills 



20 The Horned Larks at Lagrange and Snelling and west of Pleasant Valley belong 

 to the common resident subspecies of the San Joaquin Valley, the California Horned 

 Lark, Otocoris alpestris actia Oberholser. Another race, the Dusky Horned Lark, Otocoris 

 alpestris merrilli Dwight, is found in the Mono Lake region, and a few individuals stray 

 westward during the fall and winter. With specimens in hand, merrilli as compared with 

 actia is seen to be of larger size throughout and to have a grayish rather than reddish 

 cast of coloration, with the dark streaks on the upper surface more sharply contrasted. 



