402 U. S. P, K. E. EXP. AND SURVEYS — ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 



Family ALAUDIDAE- 



First primary "very short or wanting. Tarsi scutellate anteriorly and posteriorly, with the plates nearly of corresponding 

 position and number. Hind claw very long and nearly straight. Bill short, conical, frontal feathers extending a'ong the side 

 of the bill ; the nostrils usually concealed by a tuft of bristly feathers directed forwards, Tertials greatly elongated beyond the 

 secondaries. 



Of tlie'family of Alaudidae but a single genus, Eremopldla, is found in North America. The most 

 characteristic feature of the larks, among the other Oscines is seen in the structure of the tarsus. 

 The anterioij^half of thisjs covered by divided scales lapping round on the sides, hut instead of 

 the two plates whichjgo one on each side of the posterior half, and uniting ultimately behind as 

 an acute ridge, there is but one which laps round on the sides anteriorly, and is divided into 

 scales like^the anterior ones, but alternating with them. The posterior edge of the tarsus is as 

 obtuse as the anterior, instead of being very acute. There is a deep separating groove on the 

 inner side of the tarsus, and there may really be hut one plate divided transversely, the edges 

 meeting at this place. 



The other characters''of the Alaudidae, the long, straight, or slightly curved hind claw, the 

 elongated tertials, and, to some extent, the shape of tlie bill, are shared by the AntJtinae or 

 Moiacillinae. Here, however, the posterior edge of the tarsus is sharp and undivided trans- 

 versely, the toes more deeply cleft, the bill more slender, &c. 



There are two>ery distinct groups among the larks, possibly entitled to rank as sub-families. 

 In the one thebilhis stout, short, and conical. The nasal fossae transverse and completely 

 filled by the thick tuft of bristly feathers, and perforated anteriorly by a circular nasal opening. 

 In the other the bill is broader, more depressed, and straighter at the base. The nasal fossae 

 are large, elongated, their axis parallel to the commissure, with rather linear nasal openings, 

 not covered by feathers, but with merely a few bristles which do not conceal the nostrils. The 

 type of the former may be considered as the European skylark, to which our Neocorys spraguei 

 bears so much resemblance in habit, but there is no American representative in form, the species 

 all belonging to the other group, the Calandritinae of Cabanis, as distinguished from the 

 Alaudinac.^ 



EREMOPHILA, Boie. 



Eremophila, Boie, Isis, 1828, 322. Type Alanda alpeslris. Sufficiently distinct from Eremophilus, Humboldt, 



(Fishes,) 1805. 

 Phikremos, Brehm, Deutschl. Vogel, 1831. 

 " Ofocoris, Bonaparte, 1839. Type Atauda alpestris." (Gray.) lam unablo to find where the genus is named. 



Ch. — First primary wanting ; bill scarcely higher than broad ; nostrils circular, concealed by a dense tuft of feathers ; the nasal 

 fossae oblique. A pectoral crescent and cheek patches of black. 



This genus differs from Melanocorypha in having no spurious first primary, although the other 

 characters are somewhat similar. Calandritis of Cabanis, with the same lack of first primary, 

 has a much stouter bill. Tlie spurious primary, more depressed bill, and differently constituted 

 nostrils and nasal fossae of Alauda are readily distinctive. 



• The Melanocorypha calandra of Boio, {Mauda calandra,) is doubtfully referred to by Richardson, F. B. Am. II, 244, as found 

 in the fur countries. 



