THE COLUMBIAN HORNED LARK. ag 
No. 88. 
COLUMBIAN HORNED LARK. 
A. O. U. No. 4741. Otocoris alpestris merrilli Dwight. 
Synonyms.—Dusky HorNep Lark. Merritt's HorNep Lark. 
Description.—Similar to O. a. strigata but somewhat larger and decidedly 
grayer above, streaks narrower and dusky rather than black; underparts not 
suffused with yellowish and yellow of head, especially superciliary, not so strong 
as in O.a. strigata. Length (skins) 6.25 (159) ; wing 4.05 (103) ; tail 2.32 (59); 
bill .43 (11); tarsus .85 (21.6). 
Recognition Marks.—As in preceding; smaller, darker and more yellow 
than O. a. arcticola; larger, grayer and less yellow than O. a. strigata. 
Nesting.—Nest and eggs as in preceding. Av. size of eggs .93 x .61 (23.60x 
15.5). Season: April-July; two or three broods. 
General Range.—Breeding in northwestern interior district of the United 
States from northwestern Neyada and northeastern California north thru Oregon 
and Washington well up into British Columbia, east to Idaho; south in winter 
(at least) to central California. 
Range in Washington.—Common summer resident and migrant east of 
the Cascades. Breeding birds of the high Cascades may possibly be of this form. 
Authorities.—Eremophila alpestris, Brewster, B. N. O. C. VII. Oct. 1892, 
p, 227, IDS Sie IDS Si, Sis Ja 1s, 
Specimens.—P'. Prov. E(?). 
A MODEST bird is the Columbian Horned Lark, for his home is on the 
ground, and he hugs its tiny shelters when disturbed, as tho quite assured that 
its brownness matches the tint of his back. If attentively pursued, he patters 
away half trustfully, or if he takes to wing, he does so with a deprecating 
cry of apology, as if the fault were his instead of yours. If his business keeps 
him in the same field, he will reappear presently, picking from the ground with 
affected nonchalance at a rod’s remove, or else pausing to face you frankly 
with those interesting feather-tufts of inquiry, supported by black moustachios 
and jetty gorget on a ground of palest primrose. 
The unseeing class the Horned Larks among “brown birds” and miss the 
vaulting spirit beneath the modest mien. Yet our gentle Lark is of noble blood 
and ancient lineage. The Skylark, of peerless fame, is his own cousin; and, 
while he cannot hope to vie with the foreign bird in song, the same poet soul 
is in him. Whether in the pasture, upon the hillside, or in the desert, the com- 
ing of spring proclaims him laureate; and the chief vocal interest of nesting- 
time centers in the song-flight of the male Horned Lark. 
The song itself is, perhaps, nothing remarkable, a little ditty or 
succession of sprightly syllables which have no considerable resonance or 
