SHORE LARK. 471 



and under tail-coverts, dull white ; flanks tinged with red- 

 dish brown ; legs, toes, and claws, bluish black, the hind 

 claw straight, and longer than the toe. This is the plum- 

 age of autumn. In winter, the black on the crown of the 

 head, on the cheeks and chest, becomes dusky brown. In 

 summer, Mr. Audubon says, the brownish black bands on 

 the head and neck become deep black ; the throat and 

 frontal band white, and the upper parts of the body light 

 brownish red. 



A female, killed on Lake Superior, described by Sir 

 John Richardson, " wanted the black horned mark, and 

 also the vinacious tint of the head, neck, and shoulders of 

 the male, these parts being coloured like the back ; the eye 

 stripe, and under surface of the head, lemon yellow, and 

 there was a narrow black band fringed with yellow on the 

 upper part of the breast. The rest of the plumage nearly 

 as in the male ; her dimensions a little smaller." 



The young males of the year, after their first autumnal 

 moult, resemble the adult female. 



The whole length of an adult male is about seven inches. 

 From the carpal joint to the end of the quill -feathers, four 

 inches and one quarter : the first three quill-feathers very 

 nearly equal in length, and the longest in the wing ; the 

 first feather a little longer than the third ; the fourth quill- 

 feather a quarter of an inch shorter than the third. 



This pointed form of wing affords great power of flight, 

 and may help to account for the very extended geographical 

 range of this species. 



