ALAUDHXE OTOCORYS 225 



Germs VIII. OTOCORYS. 



Type. 

 Otocoris, Bonaparte, NuoviAnn. Sci. Nat. Bologna II., 



p. 407 (1838) 0. alpestris. 



Bill moderately short, nearly conical, the upper mandible 

 slightly arched and without a notch ; gape straight ; nostrils oval, 

 basal, concealed by stiff feathers directed forwards ; wings long, 

 pointed, the outer quill obsolete, the second or third longest ; tail 

 rather long and slightly emarginate ; tarsus and toes rather short ; 

 front claws slightly curved, the hind claw long, about as long as 

 its toe, and nearly straight. Plumage : the adult male with an 

 erectile tuft of narrow elongated feathers on each side of the head 

 above the eye. 



Otocorys alpestris. 



The Horned Larks number about six species and twice as many 

 sub-species and races. One species, Otocorys alpestris, the Shore 

 Lark, inhabits the Arctic regions of both continents ; the remaining 

 species and sub-species are found on high plateaux or mountain 

 ranges in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America. A 

 single specimen of a previously unknown species, supposed to have 

 been received from South Africa, is in the museum at Frankfurt-am- 

 Main and has been named 0. berlepschi by Herr Hartert. 



The Horned Larks frequent open country, run much on the 

 ground, feed on seeds and insects, and build open cup-shaped 

 nests of grass on the ground, in which they lay four or five greyish 

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