322 ALAUDIN^E. 



white, with numerous dusky spots. Belly and 

 rent white, flanks with oblong dusky streaks. 

 Tail dusky, the exterior feathers having the outer 

 web, and half of the inner one, sullied white ; the 

 next to it, with a small wedge-shaped white spot 

 near the tip ; legs and toes brown ; claws not 

 much curved, the hind one nearly, straight, and 

 longer than the toe."* The plumage of the adult 

 state, or breeding season, is much more con- 

 trasted, the head, throat, and upper part of the 

 breast, being of a rich and clear black, which is 

 relieved by a margin of white, running into the 

 light colour of the lower parts. The upper parts 

 are of a clear rufous brown, with the centre of 

 the feathers black, and having the colours of the 

 wings and tail deeper, and more distinctly marked. 

 In the female, at the same season, " the chin is 

 grayish, the black plumage of the head and 

 breast edged with pale brown and gray, the 

 chestnut feathers on the nape fringed with 

 white." f All the specimens which have been 

 taken in this country agree nearly with that 

 described by Mr Selby, and have either been 

 young birds, or those which have passed from 

 their breeding plumage. 



From these Lark- Buntings, a title indicating a 

 mixture of characters, we are led to the next 

 sub-family, Alaudince, or True Larks, easily 

 distinguished from any of the preceding birds by 



* Selby, British Ornithology, i. p. 285. 

 t Northern Zoology. 



