ALAlDin.T;- THE LARKS. 839 



Adult male imcinfer (Xo. 95553. Gainesville. Texas. Feb. 12, 1SS4; G. H. Eagsdale): 

 Sitcilar to the spring plumage, but darker, with the rinaceous somewhat obscured by 

 grayish brown, the black by pale tips to the feathers, and yellow of throat slightly 

 deeper. Wing, 4.20; tail. 3.00; eulmen. .43; tarsus, .85. 



Adult ftmale in spring (So. 90760. Richland Co., 111., May 25.1884; B. Ridgway): Above 

 grayish brown, the pileum narrowly and distinctly, the dorsal region broadly and less 

 sharply, streaked with dusky; nape, lesser wing-coverts, and shorter upper tail-eoverts 

 dull Ughtvinaceous, the first very indistinctly streaked. A narrow frontlet and broad 

 superciliary stripe (the latter very sharply defined above) dull white; lores, suborbital 

 region, and triangular patch on checks, dull brownish black, withaut sharp definition 

 posteriorly; auriculars drab, the anterior halt lighter; chin and throat white, the former 

 faintly tinged with yellowish; >ugulum crossed by a distinct band of black, narrower and 

 less intense in color than in the male; rest ot lower parts white, tinged with pale brown- 

 ish on breast, the sides (especially of breast) pale isabella-brownish, the flanks indis- 

 tinctly streaked with darker. Wing. 3.85; tail, 2.50; eulmen, .45; tarsus, .80. 



Adult female in winter (Xo. 85117, Mt. Carmel, 111., Dec. 20. 1874; S. Turner): Differing 

 from the summer plumage in being browner, and with the streaks on the pileum less 

 distinct, the whitish frontlet obsolete, and the superciliary stripe less sharply defined; 

 the lores, suborbital region, and cheeks dull brownish, like the auriculars, the latter with 

 an indistinctly lighter central spot; chin and throat dull buffy white, with a tinge of 

 straw-yellow, changing to clearer buffy white on sides ot foreneck; jugulum with .an in- 

 distinct blackish patch, the feathers broadly bordered with dull whitish. Whole breast 

 and sides light isabella-color, indistinctly streaked with darker; abdomen and crissum 

 white. Wing. 3.75; tail, 2.45; eulmen. .40; tarsus. .80. 



Young, first plumage (male. Xo. 90761. May 29. and female. Xo. 90792. May 16, Richland 

 Co.. m.; R. Ridgway): Above brownish black, the wings brownish; back dotted with 

 sharply defined deltoid and rhomboid specks of white; pileum with similar but much 

 more minute markings, and rump also varied in the same manner, but spots rather mote 

 transverse than on the back. Lesser and middle wing-coverts brownish black, broadly 

 tipped with buffy white ; greater coverts dusky, edged with isabella-brown. and narrowly 

 tipped with p.ale buff; prevailing color ot closed remiges isabella-brown. the tertials. 

 however, darker brown, bordered with buff, this bordered internally with a dusky sub- 

 margin. Lower parts dull white, the jugulum, sides of breast, and sides, dull isabella- 

 buff. spotted or clouded with dusky. 



Measurements: wing. 4.30; tail, 3.08; tarsus, .80; bill, .45 (largest of 16 males). 



Measurements: wing, 4.10; tail, 2.80; tarsus, .78; bill, .45 (smallest of 16 females). 



"The first indications of a departure from the type of the time 

 alpestris are to be noticed in the region to the south and west of 

 the Great Lakes, especially in lUinois. The birds of this region 

 are to be distinguished as a race from alj^cstris proper by smaller 

 size and by paler colors. Specimens in the breeding plumage are 

 at hand from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Illinois, 

 Indiana, Missouri, and eastern Kansas. Those from Michigan are 

 paler than any of the others, and suggest an approach to the leii- 

 colama tyiae. 



"In connection with this race, it is of interest to note that it ap- 

 pears to be gradually extending its range and to be encroaching on 

 a territory which by reason of recent deforestation has been made 

 to approach the conditions this prairie-loving species seeks. Thus 

 Dr. C. H. Merriam writes that it has made its appearance in Lewis 



