N0.1271. REVIEW OF THE HORNED LARKS— OBERHOLSER. 853 
The present race appears to be strictl^y resident, occupying a com- 
paratively circumscribed area in the region drained by the Sacramento 
River, passing south into aei/'a at about the latitude of San Francisco, 
and northeastward into inerriUL Comparatively few of the specimens 
here referred to ruhea show indication of intergradation with any of 
the other forms, but a number of intermediates that more closely 
approach 7iurriUf and actia^ respectively, are discussed under those 
races. Several spring birds from Gridley appear to incline somewhat 
in the direction of arthi^ this being especially the case with the females, 
all of which were determined b}' Dr. Dwight to be strigata; but the 
general cast of the plumage, particularly on the nape, bend of wing 
and upper tail-coverts, seems to indicate l\y lack of sufficient brownish 
tinge that these examples are correctly identified as ruhea. 
An adult male horned lark purporting to have been collected by 
Xantus at Tonila, Jalisco, Mexico, appears to be absolutely indistin- 
guishable from specimens of ruhea taken in the Sacramento Valley, 
and not like either chrysolmma from the Valley of Mexico or oaxacw 
from the State of Oaxaca. The ostensible locality is possildy erroneous, 
this suspicion Ijeing strengthened by the fact that the specimen is 
labeled "Oct.," though it is evidently in breeding plumage. On the 
other hand, the fact that the breeding horned lark of the city of 
Durango, Durango, Mexico, shows a decided approach to this ruddi- 
ness of plumage renders possible and really almost probable that 
the Otovor'i^i from still farther south is fully as reddish as ruhea. 
Should future investigation prove this to be the case, it will add 
another to the already considerable list of instances of reduplication 
of forms in this genus. 
The throat in ruhea. is usually pale, scarcely ever verj^ deep 3'ellow, 
sometimes almost white; the eyebrow, particularly in summer 'females, 
is fliot infrequently without a trace of yellow. The breast for a short 
distance below the black is occasionally, especiall}' in winter, tinged 
with yellow; the thighs also, though rarely, show some of this color. 
One newly molted example, from Bald Mountain, Shasta Count}", Cali- 
fornia, has the entire under surface strongly suffused with yellow. In 
some specimens the reddish color of the nape is much spread over the 
back, in others it is posteriorly confined to the nape, with a well-defined 
lino of demarcation l)etween it and the color of the back; occasionally', 
and this particularly in worn summer birds, the occiput and nape have 
a distinct pinkish tinge. 
Thirty-nine specimens of this race have been examined, representing 
the following localities: 
CaJiforiiia. — Red Bluff;* Mount Lassen;* Placer County;* Yuba 
County; Gridley;* Marysville; Bald Mountain, Shasta Count}" ; 
Stockton; Willows; Santa Cruz; Battle Creek. 
