58 



LooMis on Birds of Chcstei Coii?i/y, Souf/i Carolina. [lanuary 



re-occupieti, while other locations apparently not dissinular liave been 

 discarded. A single field is often the centre of attraction, and here the 

 birds are always certain to be found. If persecuted they leave the spot 

 with reluctance, repea'tedly returning before seeking a retreat in some 

 other quarter of their range — the flocks Avhen broken up coining back in 

 detached companies. In the times of greatest abundance they are more 

 generally dispersed, the Northern hordes overflowing the narrow bounds 

 held in occupancy in ordinary seasons. Barren upland pastures, where 

 the grass has been cropped to the roots, and wind-swept grain fields are, 

 above all other situations, chosen by them. Cotton-fields where the 

 stalks are small and the ground free from grass are also much frequented, 

 If these congenial haunts abound in small stones, a further attraction it 

 aftbrded. In all, the color of the surroundings harmonizes so nearly with 

 the color of the upper parts of the birds as to render them exceedingly 

 inconspicuous. 



I now believe that every year Prairie Horned Larks are regular visitors 

 and that their reported absence in some winters was due to an inadequate 

 knowledge of their habits and distribution. 



In the subjoined table are the dimensions of fortj'-two males and two 

 hundred and twenty-five females, representing two series: one of twenty- 

 six inales and one hundred and thirty-three females, procured during the 

 winter of 1S87-8S, and the other of sixteen males and ninety-two females 

 obtained during the ensuing winter. All the measurements that follow 

 are in millimetres. They were originally taken in inches and hundredths 

 and then reduced to the metric equivalents. 



Ch' d of 'wi7ig\L,otigest rectri 



Maximum 

 Minimum 

 Mean 



Maximum 

 Minimum 

 Mean 



Sex 



Lensrth 



1S7. 96 185.42 

 176-53 175-26 

 181.36 180.34 



'73-99 173-99 

 162.56 162.56 

 169.16 168.66 



Extent 



337-82 

 320.04 

 330.96 



320.04 

 299.72 

 310.64 



340-36 

 317-50 

 326.39 



317-50 

 299.72 

 308.36 



106. 17 105.66 



99.82 



102.87 



99.82 

 91-95 



95-75 



99-31 



I02.6l 



99.82 

 91-95 



96 01 



79.75180.01 



69.85170.10 

 75-94 75-44 



73- 15,73-40 

 62.23 65.02 

 68.3268.83 



The maximum extremes were not derived from single specimens, and 

 are thus not necessarily indicative of direct approaches toward alpestris or 

 leucolcema. In the first series of females they were furnished by the 

 combined dimensions of two birds. In the second the maximum wing, 

 99.82 mm., occurred in an individual whose length was only 166.37 mm- 7 

 and tail, 69.34 mm., while the longest tail, 73.40 mm. appeared in one in 

 which the entire length was but 171.45 mm., manifesting that the total 

 length is diminished by the shortening of the body as well as by the 

 shortening of the rectrices. The chief length, 173.99 mm., was attained 

 in twelve instances in the first series .and in but three in the second. The 

 following measurements of females further attest the absence of a uniform 

 variation in the proportions of many examples: — 



