ALAl'DID.E- THE LARKS. 141 



Eremophila alpestris, r»<>iE 



THE SHOBE LABK. 



Sf'. CiiAif. Adult male: spring. A irontal croscont, cnrvin<r backward m a broad, 

 sharply dflinod, superciliary stripe to the occiput; ciiin, throat and foreiieck, and a crescent 

 across niiddk' of ear-coverts, wiiitish, either more or less tinged with yellow, or pure 

 white. L(;wer parts, except laterall_v, white. A broad crescentic patch behind the 

 Irontal whitish crescent, running back on each side of the crown an<l ti'rniinating in an 

 erectile tuft of narrow elongated feathers on each side of occiput, a patch covning the 

 lores, nasal tufts, passing beneath the eye, and forming a broad '•mustache" on the 

 cheeks, with a convex <»utline behind and concave anteriorly, and a broad crescentic patch 

 across the jugulum. deep black. A crescentic spot of grayish-drab across the ends of the 

 auriculars. Posterior portion of the crown enclosed laterally l>etween the " «'ar-tufts," 

 occiput, nape, lateral lower parts, lesser and midtlle wing-coverts, and upper tail-coverts, 

 piid<ish-brown ; the sides and Hanks with obsolete dusky streaks. Back, scapulars, rump, 

 wings, and two middle tail-feathers, ashy-drab, the feathers darker centrally, forming 

 rather conspicuous broad streaks on lower part of l)ack; middle and secondary coverts, 

 secondaries and primaries bordered terminally, quite conspicuously, with white. Tail 

 (except the iiiterhiedio) black; outer web of lateral feather almost entirely white, that 

 of the next edged with the same. 



Adult female ; spring. Similar, but markings rather less sharply defmed ; a tendency 

 to streaking of nape and crown; these streaks often disi»laciug the continuous black of 

 the anterior portion of crown. The "ear-tufts" less developed. 



Winter adult. Similar to the spring dress, but the lilack areas obscure<l, more or less, 

 by whitish borders to the feathers; the frontal whitish band le.'^s sharjtly defined. Breast 

 with numerous more or less distinct deltoid sju'cks of i»lumbeous, and the pinkish of the 

 sides much tinired with the same. The duskv streaks above an; broader and more con- 

 spicuous. i 



Youufj. First plumage, entirely difTtTcnt from the a<lult. Above dusky, variegated 

 with whitish dots, sprinkkMl over the whole surface; these sjiecks terminal on each 

 feather, and of a deltoid form, becoming more transverse and crescentic on the .scaj^ulars 

 and rump; each feather of the wings broadly l)«)r(lered with pale brownish, approaching 

 white on the coverts. The blackish areas are but faiutlv indicated bv a duskv sulVusion, 

 generally very indistinct, across the l>reast, and over the cheeks; atid variegated with 

 badly defined, more dusk}' s^wts ; lowei- parts, including post-ocular stripe, dull white; 

 sides spotted with dusky. 



The B. c/pcstris, as restricted, is represented in the collection bv three 

 ])erfect specimens, in the several staues of ]dtiniauc described : while there 

 is also a fine specimen fntm Astraclian, rejn'esentinii ii white-throated race 

 (" var. hci " on ]\IS. hihel of Central Asia. The series of American sjiecimens 

 is all tliat coidd possibly be desired, there beinu, niimcrons examples from 

 nearly the whole northern continent, from the Arctic reijions to as tar south 

 as Bof>ota, and from coast to coast. 



The common Shore Lark of tlie northern parts of North America ajtpears 

 to be absolutely identical with the Kurojiean bird, each of the specimens of 

 the latter beinj' easily matched from the American series. Tt therefore 

 becomes necessary to reduce the name '' rornntn''' to a synonyme of alpestris, 



