LARKS 323 



Plumage of adult males : forehead, line over eye, ear region and throat 

 yellow; the tuft of feathers on side of head (horns) black; fore crown, 

 patch from bill below eye and breast patch black ; above more or less 

 grayish brown or brownish ash, tinged with vinaceous ; tail black, the outer 

 feathers margined outwardly with white, the inner ones with brownish or 

 vinaceous; belly white. Plumage of adult females: they lack the black 

 forehead of the male, the black breast patch is smaller and duller, the yellow 

 markings are not as bright, and the back is more streaked. Plumage in fall 

 and winter : the black markings somewhat veiled by pale buff or pinkish 

 tips to the feathers. Wing 4.20 ; tail 2.88. 



Geog. Dist. — Northern Eiu-ope and Asia, Greenland, northeastern North 

 America ; breeding from Cape St. Mary to Hudson Bay and Labrador on 

 American side ; wintering southward to about 38°. 



County Records. — Androscoggin; rare migrant, (Johnson). Aroostook; 

 one specimen, (Knight). Cumberland; gregarious winter resident of vari- 

 able abundance, (Brown, C. B. P. p. 17). Franklin; rare migrant, (Sweet). 

 Hancock ; winter bird of the coast, inland in late winter and early spring, 

 (Knight). Knox; winter, (Rackliff). Oxford; occurs at Norway in win- 

 ter, (Verrill's List). Penobscot; common near Bangor in January, Feb- 

 ruary and March some years, none others , (Knight). Piscataquis ; 

 common, (Homer). Sagadahoc; plentiful late fall and early winter, few 

 in spring, (Spinney). Waldo; some seasons common in February and 

 March, (Knight). Washington; very rare, (Boardman) ; irregular winter 

 visitant, (Clark). 



The earliest fall specimen I have knowledge of was taken at 

 Milo, September 25, but usually the species does not appear 

 until about the middle of October. It is plentiful locally and 

 sporadically along the coast through the winter and appears 

 inland at various times during fall and winter, but is usually 

 most frequently reported in January, and more especially 

 February and March. The latest date of its occurrence was 

 the first week in May when a specimen in the flesh was sent 

 me by Wallace Homer of Monson, this being exceptional, but 

 the specimen nevertheless was a typical example of the species. 



With our present knowledge of the species we may say that 

 it is chiefly a coastal species with us, being apt to occur inland 

 at irregular intervals in late winter. Along the coast they 

 occur in flocks of ten or fifteen to sometimes hundreds, running 

 about among the sand dunes and along the shores. As they 

 fly they utter a characteristic whistled call hard to put on 



