214 THE ALASKA HORNED LhRK. 



oiul in tliis resiKfcl. A monograph by Mr. 11. C. Oberliolscr" enumerales 

 iwcnty-three f<jmis, of which seventeen are described as North American, and 

 four Mexican, beside one from Colombia (U. a. pcrciirma) and anotiier {O. a. 

 floxa) from Kurasia. Of this number the majority occur west of the Missis- 

 sippi River, where climatic conditions are nn^re sharply differentiated, and 

 where, especially in the Southwest, the situation allows of that i)ermanent 

 residence whicii is conducive to the development of subspecific forms. 



Tiie situation in Washington appears to be somewhat as follows: (>. u. 

 striyata, strongly marked, but showing relationship to uwrrilli. 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. iiirrrilli is related to striyata on the one 

 hand, and to li'iicoUciiia (the Desert Hnrned Lark) on the other, but it curi- 

 ously reproduces the appearance of praticDla (being indistinguishable in 

 certain plumages ) ; and also bears close resemblance to yiraiidi, a non-migrant 

 form of the Gulf shore of Texas. It summers thruout eastern Washington, 

 and even (doubtfully) occuj^es the western coast of British Columbia. An 

 isolated colony occurring on Mount Baker, alxive timber-line, is referred by 

 Oberholser to this form, but I should prefer to call it an intergrade with 

 arcticola. In winter iiicrrilli retires completely from its Washington range, 

 and its place is taken by arcticola. sweeping down from the highlands of 

 British Columbia and Alaska in consitlerable numbers. 



It is not at all difticult for one wlio is accustomed to the appearance of 

 Iiicrrilli to recognize tiiese newcomers wiien they a|)|)ear, 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 ami 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 <lo so they 

 "freeze," so perfectly that the eye can scarcely hnd them. The only thing to 

 do under sucli 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 

 yif>s to their fellows. 



a. A Review of the L.ark9 of the Genus Otocorit. Troc. V. S. N'at'l Mus., Vol. XXIV., pp. 801884, 

 190J. 



b. Much clearer testimony is rcnuired on this point. OI)crholMr,_ o/>. cil.,p. 839, cite» a record for 

 Colton in Whitman County, but I nave never seen this form in Vaicima County; and it would aeem 

 remarkable that a bird should forsake the mild climate of Tacoma to endure the more severe wintcra 

 and less certain food supply of the East-side. 



