ANNOTATED LIST OF THE BIRDS 239 



LONG BEACH. Common winter visitant, October 24, 1920 

 (Janvrin) to April 12, 1917 (Bicknell). 



New York State. Rare winter visitant on the salt marshes of 

 the Sound; uncommon on the south shore of Staten Island; casual 

 at Ossining (Fisher) ; unknown elsewhere. 



BRONX REGION. Rare winter visitant, October 25, 1917 

 (L. N. Nichols) to March 25, 1919 (L. N. Nichols). 

 New Jersey. Common winter visitant to the salt meadows 

 south of Newark, October 31, 1920 to April 2, 1921 (Urner). Very 

 rare or unknown further inland, occurring only after severe storms 

 and disappearing as soon as the weather moderates. Mr. Miller 

 informs me that he has seen Horned Larks near Plainfield on several 

 occasions, but usually could not determine the subspecies. One 

 specimen of this race, however, was found dead February 27, 1921, 

 near Millington. On January 1, 1913 a flock of thirty birds were 

 discovered in the fields near Millington. Two of these birds were 

 positively identified as adults of typical alpestris (Griscom and 

 LaDow). The others flew before a positive determination was 

 possible. Recorded near Cranford (Rogers). 



ENGLEWOOD REGION. Horned Larks are very rare visitors 

 to the Overpeck Marshes after heavy storms, and still rarer 

 elsewhere from February 23, 1914 (R. S. Lemmon) to March 

 12, 1916 (Mrs. Bowdish). The subspecies has never been 

 positively determined, so far as I am aware. 



PRAIRIE HORNED LARK (Otocoris alpestris praticola) 

 There is much misconception of the status of this sub- 

 species in our territory, and much has been published which 

 is unquestionably erroneous. Inexperienced observers are 

 constantly calling pale female or immature Horned Larks, 

 Prairie Horned Larks, and the recorded flocks of fifty and 

 seventy-five individuals of the latter race exist in fancy but 

 not in fact in this region. Suffice it to say that only under the 

 most favorable circumstances and at very close range can the 

 Prairie Horned Lark be distinguished from the typical bird, 

 and then only when direct comparison is available. On such 

 occasions the line over the eye is pure white. Another theory 

 current is that Horned Larks seen inland must be praticola. 

 I have no evidence whatever that this is the case. In the 



