BIRDS OF NEW YORK 201 



higher and higher in the air like the famous skylark of Europe. They 

 nest upon the ground. Eggs usually 4, closely mottled with brown. The 

 sexes are nearly alike in coloration. The larks are valuable not only for 

 their interesting habits and song, but the destruction of weed seeds and, 

 during the nesting season, of numerous insects on which the young are fed. 



Alauda arvensis Linnaeus 

 Skylark 



Plate 69 



Alauda arvensis Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. 1758. Ed. 10. 1:165 



A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 218. No. 473 

 alauda, Lat., lark (from Celtic, meaning high song); arvensis, Lat., of the ploughed 

 field 



Description. About the size of the Horned lark but lighter colored; 

 upper parts of 3 different shades; the center of the feathers dark brown, 

 fading to grayish white or yellowish white on the outer margin, giving 

 a general streaky grayish appearance to the upper parts. Under parts 

 dull whitish and yellowish white more or less spotted on the breast with 

 grayish brown. The outer tail feathers whitish. 



Length 7.5 inches; extent 14.7; wing 4; tail 2.5; bill .5. 



Distribution. This European species has been introduced in New 

 York State, especially on the western end of Long Island and in the 

 southern Hudson valley. In 1887 it had evidently become established 

 near Flatbush, Long Island, and was found breeding there July 2, 1887 

 (see Dutcher, Auk, 5, 180). It was still breeding near Flatbush in July 

 1895 (see Proctor, Auk, 12, 390) and Doctor Braislin noticed them at Neck 

 Road, Long Island, in March 1898. John Burroughs speaks of them 

 as occurring at Esopus-on-the-Hudson (see Pepacton, pages 150-53). 

 It is thus evident that this famous songster became definitely established 

 in the southeastern portion of New York and retained its hold for many 

 years. But the latest reports from western Long Island seem to indicate 

 that the birds are not increasing in numbers or barely holding their own. 

 So it is evident that without further introduction of new stock from Europe 

 this bird will not become a widely dispersed species in America as the 

 English sparrow and Starling have done. 



