214 THE ALASKA HORNED LARK. 
ond in this respect. A monograph by Mr. H. C. Oberholser* enumerates 
twenty-three forms, of which seventeen are described as North American, and 
four Mexican, beside one from Colombia (O. a. peregrina) and another (O. a. 
flava) from Eurasia. Of this number the majority occur west of the Missis- 
sippi River, where climatic conditions are more sharply differentiated, and 
where, especially in the Southwest, the situation allows of that permanent 
residence which is conducive to the development of subspecific forms. 
The situation in Washington appears to be somewhat as follows: O. a. 
strigata, strongly marked, but showing relationship to merrill, and likeness to 
insularis, of the Santa Barbara Islands, summers in western Washington in 
open prairies, and at low altitudes only. In winter it retires southward, or 
straggles irregularly eastward>. O. a. merrilli is related to strigata on the one 
hand, and to Jewcolema (the Desert Horned Lark) on the other, but it curi- 
ously reproduces the appearance of praticola (being indistinguishable in 
certain plumages ) ; and also bears close resemblance to giraudi, a non-migrant 
form of the Gulf shore of Texas. It summers thruout eastern Washington, 
and even (doubtfully ) occupies the western coast of British Columbia. An 
isolated colony occurring on Mount Baker, above timber-line, is referred by 
Oberholser to this form, but I should prefer to call it an intergrade with 
arcticola. In winter merrilli retires completely from its Washington range, 
and its place is taken by arcticola, sweeping down from the highlands of 
British Columbia and Alaska in considerable numbers. 
It is not at all difficult for one who is accustomed to the appearance of 
merrilli to recognize these newcomers when they appear, late in October, for 
they are decidedly larger, more lightly colored, and show no slightest trace of 
yellow. They are much given to wandering about in straggling flocks, and 
the mild cries which they scatter freely have a subdued and plaintive tone, 
borrowed, no doubt, from the chastened character of the season. A sitting 
flock will sometimes allow a very close approach, but when they do so they 
“freeze,” so perfectly that the eye can scarcely find them. The only thing to 
do under such circumstances is to freeze also, until the birds begin to limber 
up and steal cautiously away, taking advantage, for concealment, of every 
tuft of grass or depression of the ground, and giving occasional admonitory 
yips to their fellows. 
a. A Review of the Larks of the Genus Otocoris, Proc. U. S. Nat'l Mus., Vol. XXIV., pp. 801-884, 
1902. 
b. Much clearer testimony is required on this point. Oberholser, op. cit., p. 839, cites a record for 
Colton in Whitman County, but I have never seen this form in Yakima County; and it would seem 
remarkable that a bird should forsake the mild climate of Tacoma to endure the more severe winters 
and less certain food supply of the East-side. 
