336 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



FAMILY ALATJDID2E. THE LARKS. 



"CHAE. First primary very short or wanting. Tarsi scutellate anteriorly and pos- 

 teriorly, with the plates nearly of corresponding position and number. Hind claw very 

 long and nearly straight. Bill short, conical, frontal feathers extending along side of the 

 bill ; the nostrils concealed by a tuft of bristly feathers directed forward. Tertials greatly 

 elongate beyond the secondaries." (Hist. N. Am. B.) 



The Alaudidss are preeminently a Palsearctic family, being numer- 

 ously represented throughout Europe and central Asia, and with many 

 members in the more open portion of the African continent. Amer- 

 ica possesses a single species, and that of circumpolar distribution. 



"The most characteristic feature of the Larks among other oscinine 

 families is seen in the scutellation of the tarsus. The anterior 

 half of this is covered by divided scales lapping around on the 

 sides, but instead of the two plates which go on each side of the 

 posterior half and unite ultimately behind as an acute ridge, there 

 is but one, which laps round on the sides, and is divided into scales 

 like the anterior ones, but alternating with them. The posterior 

 edge of the tarsus is as obtuse as the anterior, instead of being very 

 acute. There is a deep separating groove on the inner side of the 

 tarsus ; and there may be really but one plate divided transversely, 

 the edges meeting at this place. 



"In the elongated hind claw and lengthened tertials, general style 

 of coloration, mode of life, and manner of nesting, there is decided 

 approximation in the Alaudida to the Anthina, of the family Mo- 

 tacittida; but in these the posterior edge of the tarsus is sharp and 

 undivided transversely, the toes more deeply cleft, the bill more 

 slender, etc. their relations being rather nearer to the Sylvicolida 

 than the present family." (Hist. N. Am. B.) 



GENUS OTOCORIS BONAPARTE. 



Eremophila BOIE, Isis, 1828, 322. Type, Alauda alpestris LINN. (Nee Eremophilus 

 HUMB. 1805.) 



Otocoris BONAP. Fauna ItaL Uccelli. Introd. 1839, (not paged). 



GEN. CHAB. No spurious primary ; bill small, scarcely higher than broad; nostrils 

 circular (the nasal fossse oblique), concealed by a dense tuft of feathers. Adult with a 

 narrow tuft of feathers on each side of the crown (most developed in the male). Colors 

 of the adult pinkish gray or brownish above, with more or less distinct streaks on the 

 back; a black cheek patch and pectoral crescent (indistinct in the female). 



