TITLARK. 631 



Color. Ailult lu siJi-inic. Abuvo, olivacoou.s bruwii with eacli feather having a darker center. Be- 

 neath, reddisli white with a maxillary line of dark brown spots, which also extends across the breast and 

 along the sides. Wings and tail, dark brown, with the outer webs edged with yellowish white. The two 

 outer tail feathers are tipped with white ; this color extends along the outer web of the first feather for three- 

 fourths its length. The thini tail feather is also sometimes tipped with white. The under wing coverts 

 are pale yellowish white streaked with dusky. There is a 3ellowish ring around the eye and a stripe over 

 it of the same color. In autumn the colors beneath are paler. The young difl'er from the adult in being 

 lialer and having less white on the tail. Sexes alike. Irides, feet and bill, brown, the latter lighter at the 

 base of the lower mandible. 



OBSERVATIONS. 

 In a large series of specimens before me there is considerable variation in the number and size of the 

 spots beneath, and those which are most spotted are darker above. The only bird with which this is likely 

 to be confounded is the Missouri Skylark, but this is whiter on the under portions, and has the outer tail 

 feathers pure white, and the feet and bill yellow. This species breeds from Labrador northward but is 

 found during the migrations throughout North America, and winters from the Gulf States southward 

 through Mexico to Guatemala. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of twenty-nine specimens. Length, C.o.5 ; stretch, 10.30 ; wing, o.oO ; tail, 2.5;) ; 

 bill, .48: tarsus, .80. Longest si>ecimen, 7.00; greatest extent of wings, 11.00; longest wing, 3.60; tail, 

 '2.75 ; bill, .50 ; tarsus, .GO. Shortest specimen, 6.15 ; smallest extent of wings, 6.95 ; shortest wing, 3.15 ; 

 tail, 2.45 ; bill, .50; tarsus, .'MX 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



'f he accompanying descriptions were made from a nest and eggs, now in the Smithsonian Institution, by 

 my friend Mr. Ridgway, who kindly forwarded them to me. The specimens were taken at Rendezvous Lake, 

 Arctic Coast, on the 25th of June, 1864, by Mr. R. McFarland. 



Nest, composed entirely of coarse grass, lined with finer material ; it is quite compact and deeply saucer- 

 shaped. Dimensions; external diameter, 4 inches, internal, 2.50 ; external depth, 2 inches, internal, 1.50. 

 E(i(;s,five in number, oval in form, dull gray in color, with spots of chocolate-brown thickly sprinkled over 

 the whole surface. 



HABITS. 



Tlie Titlarks make tlioir a])iH'araiire on the coast of New England in September; 

 they come pouring in tVoni the North in large tlocks and frequent tlie barren, wind-swept 

 hills which lie along the ^hore. These birds are very restless, never remaining long in 

 one spot, and will seldom alight in mjusses but scatter along the beaches; sometimes a 

 company of several hundred will sj)rea«l over a (juarter of a mile of shore, yet so prone are 

 they to take flight that if a single individual becomes frightened enough to rise and soimd 

 its clear cry every bird in the llock will take alarm and instantly depart. They lly with 

 an undulating motion, uttering a shrill double note. When once in air they seem to dis- 

 like to alight, for although they will fre(|uently sweep downward and apj)ear about to 

 i5top will often proceed for a mile or more without settling. 



The Titlai'ks appear to subsist mainly upon insects, and I have observed them dart- 

 ing upwards from the ground to catch passing flies. They remain in New England until 

 the middle of November, when they depart for the South. These birds are exceedingly 

 ;ibundant about Jacksonville, in Florida; here they frequent open fields along the river. 



