MOTACILI.ID.E — THE WAGTAILS. 



175 



its (law but sliuhtly ctirv<Ml, and aV»ont half the total length. Inner lateral toe rather lonp^t/r 

 than outer. \Vin<i.s inuih lonirtr than tail: Ihst qnill lonjrest. Terlials eonsideraMy lon^tT 

 tlian s<'eon<laries. Tail rathci' sliort, «'niar<rinate. 



TJiit one .species of tliis yeiius is known, it being peculiar to the Western 

 plains. 



Neocorys spraguei, s« lat. 



XI8S0TJBI SKTLARK; SFBAGUFS PIPIT 



AJnufhi sprngnei, At'P. Birds Am. VII, 1843, 335, i>\. cceclxxxvi. A<jrii(1ittun s-prngitri. 

 BAiiin, Stanshnry's Kep. 1J>."»2, 329. X'oon'ffs sjn-affi'ri, Sii.atki!, P. Z. S. ls.">7, 5. — 

 Baiki*, Birds N. Am. 1858, 234. — Blakiston, Ihis, 1>»;2, 4 (S;i.>kateh»'\van). — rooPEK. 

 Orn. Cal. I, 1S70, 80. Aiithms {Xtucunjs) ttjjiV'juei, Baij:i>, Itev. 155. 



Sp. Ciiah. Above wood-brown, all the leather.'^ ed,i,a'd with paler, especially on the 

 neck, where there is a brownish-yellow tinge. The under parts are dull white, with a 

 collar of sharjily defined narrow brown streaks across the forepart and along the sides of 

 the breast. Lore.s and a superciliary lint' whitish. Tail-feathers, except the middle ones, 

 dark brown; the outer one white, tlie second white, with the inner margin brown. The 

 outer priiuaiy is e<lged with white, and there arc two dull whitish bands across the wino-s. 

 Bill .and feet yellow, th»? former brown above. Length (female), o.To ; win"-, 3.35; 

 tail, 2.0O. 



Had. Plains of Yellowstone and Uppei- Missouri to Saskatchewan ; Nebraska. 



This little-known s})ecies has the oeneral appearance of a Titlark, but is 

 readily distinj^uished from AntJnis lu- 

 do vie ill Has by the i>iirer white of its 

 under parts, the nnich darker centres 

 and much paler margins to the feathers 

 above, the entirely white external tail- 

 feather, and the yellow le«4s and bill, as 

 well as by its generic peculiarities. In 

 its song and genenil habits it approaches 

 nearer the Euroi)ean Skylark than any 

 biixl belonniiio- to our fauna. 



Habits. This interesting species was 

 first described by Audubon, in tlie sup- 

 plementary portion of his 1 >irds of Ameri- 

 ca. It was obtained bv the partv which 

 accompanied him to the Ui>])tr ^lissouri in 1843. It was first met with on 

 the 19th of Jiuie near Fort l^nion, in Dacotah Territory. It has since been 

 found on the fork of the Saskatchewan, but little additional information 

 respecting its habits has fjeen obtained since its first disc(n-ery. 



It seems to more nearly approach, in its habits, the Kuropean Skylark 

 than anv other of our North American birds. Mr. Edward Harris was com- 

 pletely misled, at fii*st, by the sound of their song, so that on several occa- 

 sions he sought for them on the ground. Their voices ai»peared to come to 



Neocorys sprnstifi. 



