1890.] DwiohT on the Horned Lark* . ICC 



most pallid of any yet described, and resembles most a miniature 

 arenicola. The white edging of the feathers of the back, particu- 

 larly the secondaries, is very marked. While material is so meagre 

 it is hardly safe to assign a definite habitat, but this probably repre- 

 sents a desert seashore race. A female, worn and faded, from 

 Tehuantepec is perhaps referable to this race, but I imagine Mex- 

 ico has still some curious facts to disclose regarding its resident 

 Horned Larks. 



Average measurements of 2 breeding males : wing, 95.0 mm. (3. 74 in.) ; 

 tail, 64.0 mm. (2.52 in.); tarsus, 19.6 mm. (.77 in.); bill from nostril. 

 9. 1 mm. (.36 in.). 



Specimens examined: $, 2; J, 2. Localities represented: *Santa 

 Rosalia Bay and *Magdalena Bay, Lower Cala. ; *Mouth of Rio Colorado, 

 Mexico. 



I conclude this paper with a description of the seasonal differ- 

 ences of plumage applicable to any of the races, a key to the races 

 based on breeding birds, a table of measurements, and a map of 

 North America showing the localities from which I have exam- 

 ined specimens. 



COMMON- CHARACTERS. 



Males in breeding plumage. — Back various shades of brown, the feath- 

 ers darkest along the shafts and edged with pinkish, reddish, or grayish, 

 corresponding to the tints of the nape, and producing a mottled or broadly 

 streaked appearance; back of head, sides of neck and nape (generally in 

 marked contrast to the back) pinkish, vinaceous, or reddish, extending to 

 the black of the jugulum and along the sides and flanks ; shoulders and a 

 band on rump, usually redder than the nape; fore part of crown, erectile 

 'horns,' a broad loral stripe, extending wider below the eye into the mid- 

 dle ear-coverts, and a crescentic patch on the jugulum, curving below from 

 shoulder to shoulder, uniform black; frontal band, a broad superciliary 

 stripe, the middle of the ear-coverts (often interrupted with dusky), chin, 

 throat, and remaining lower parts white, usually tinged about the head 

 with yellow which is brightest on the chin and sometimes washes the 

 breast; flanks obscurely streaked with dusky; tibiae like sides or duller, 

 sometimes pale yellow; wings similar in color to the back, rather darker, 

 the quills whitish-edged; tail black, outer web of exterior feathers chiefly 

 white, and color of rump-band shading off into the pale brown of the two 

 central feathers. Bill plumbeous black, lower mandible paling from tip 

 to base. Feet black. 



As but one moult takes place in the year (at the end of the breeding 

 season), the breeding plumage is the direct result of the wearing and 



