490 THE BULLFINCH. 



There is a curious fjenus of Larks called by the name of Ot6coris, or Eared Lai-ks, on 

 account of the double pencil, or tuft of feathers, which they bear upon their heads, and 

 which project on each side of the face like the pen of a lawyer's clerk from behind his 

 ear. Two species of this genus are now well known to oruithologists, the one being the 

 Pencilled Lark, and the other the Shore Lark. 



The Pencilled Lark is a very rare bird, and has comparatively recently been introduced 

 to science. It is found in Persia, especially about Erzeroum, and is worthy of notice on 

 account of the greatly developed pencils of dark featlicrs from which it derives its name. 

 It is a prettily, though not brightly, coloured bird. The upper part of the body is dai'kish 

 ash, the wings and quill-feathers being of a brownish cast, with the exception of the 

 external primaries, wdiicli are white. The forehead, the chin, ear-coverts, breast, and 

 abdomen are white, and the two projecting pencils are jetty black. The top of the liead 

 and the nape of the neck are also ashen, but with a purple wash. Tlie tail is dark brown, 

 with the exception of the two central feathers, which are dusky grey. 



A CLOSELY allied species is sometimes seen in this country. This is the Shore Lark, 

 a bird which has occasionally been seen, and of course killed, on our coasts, although its 

 ordinary dwelling-place is in North America. Of this bird Wilson speaks as follows : — 



" It is one of our winter birds of passage, arriving from the north in the fall ; usually 

 staying with us the wdiole winter, frequenting sandy plains and open downs, and is 

 numerous in the Southern States, as far as Georgia, during that season. They Hy high in 

 loose, scattered flocks, and at these times have a singular cry, almost exactly like the 

 skylark of Britain. 



They are very numerous in many tracts of New Jersey, and are frequently brought to 

 Philadelphia market. They are then generally very fat, and are considered excellent 

 eating. Their food seems jirincipally to consist of small round compressed seeds, buck- 

 wheat, oats, &c. with a large proportion of gravel. On the flat commons, within the 

 boundaries of the city of Philadelphia, flocks of them are regularly seen during the whole 

 winter. In the stomachs of them I have found, in numerous instances, quantities of the 

 eggs or lai'VJE of certain insects, mixed with a kind of slimy earth. About the middle 

 of March they generally disappear, on their route to the north." 



Forster informs us that they visit the environs of Albany first in the beginning of 

 !May, but go farther north to breed ; that they feed on grass seeds and buds of the spring 

 birch, and run into small holes, keeping close to the ground ; from whence the natives 

 call them " cM-chup-pi-sue." The pencils wdiich decorate the head of this bird are 

 movable, and are raised or depressed at the will of their owner, thereby producing a very 

 grotesque appearance. It is a remarkable fact that wdien the bird is dead, they lie so 

 closely among the other feathers, that they can with difficulty be distinguished. 



The well-known Bullfinch is, perhaps, rather more familiar as a cage bird tlian as a 

 denizen of the wood, for it is so remarkaljly shy and retiring in its haljits that it keeps 

 itself sedidously out of sight, and though bold enough in the pursuit of food, invading the 

 gardens and orchards ^\•ith considerable audacity, it yet has a careful eye to its own safety 

 and seldom comes within reach of gunshot. 



It cares little for open country, preferring cultivated grounds, woods, and copses, and 

 is very fond of orchards and fruit-gardens, finding there its greatest supply of food. This 

 bird seems to feed almost wholly on buds during then- season, and is consequently shot 

 without mercy by the owners of fruit-gai-dcns. The Bullfinch has a ciu'ious propensity 

 for selecting those buds which would produce fruit, so that the leafage of the tree is not 

 at all diminished. Although the general verdict of the garden-keeiiing puldic goes against 

 the Bullfinch, there are, nevertheless, some owners of gardens who are willing to say 

 a kind word for Bully, and who assert that its mischievous propensities have been much 

 overrated. 



It is true that the bird will oftentimes set hard to work upon a fniit-tree, and nith- 

 lessly strip off every single flower-bud, thereby destroying to all ajiiunirance the prosjiects 

 of the crop for that season. Yet there are cases when a gooseberry-bush has thus been 



