372 HISTORY OF THE 



FAMILY ALAUDID.33. LARKS. 



"First primary very short or wanting. Tarsi scutellate anteriorly and pos- 

 teriorly, with the plates nearly of corresponding position and number. Hind 

 claws very long and nearly straight. Bill short, conical, frontal feathers ex- 

 tending along side of the bill; the nostrils concealed by a tuft of bristly feath- 

 ers directed forward. Tertials greatly elongate beyond the secondaries." 



GENUS OTOCORIS BONAPABTE. 



No spurious primaries; tail even, or slightly rounded; crown without crest, 

 but on each side of the occiput an erectile, narrow, horn-like tuft of lengthened 

 black feathers; plumage of adult with plain brown or vinaceous tints prevailing 

 above, the lower parts mainly plain white, the head and chest with bold, black 

 markings (less conspicuous in female). Eidyway. 



Otocoris alpestris praticola HENSH. 



PRAIRIE HORNED LARK. 

 PLATE XXIV. 



Resident in the eastern portion of the State, not observed in 

 the western; abundant during the winter months. Begin lay- 

 ing the last of March. 



B. . K. . C. . G. , 181. U. 4745. 



HABITAT. The upper Mississippi Yalley and region of the 

 great lakes, west to central Dakota and Kansas; south in win- 

 ter to South Carolina and central Texas. 



SP. CHAR. Adult male, in spring: Posterior portion of crown, occiput, nape, 

 sides of neck and breast, lesser wing coverts and shorter upper tail coverts light 

 vinaceous; back, scapulars and rump grayish brown, the feathers with darker 

 centers, becoming darker and much more distinct on the rump; middle wing cov- 

 erts light vinaceous terminally, brownish gray basally. Wings (except as de- 

 scribed ) grayish brown, the feathers with paler edges; outer primary with outer 

 web chiefly white. Middle pair of tail feathers light brown (paler at edges), 

 the central portion (longitudinally) much darker, approaching dusky; remain- 

 ing tail feathers uniform black, the outer pair with exterior web broadly edged 

 with white. Longer upper tail coverts light brown, edged with whitish, and 

 marked with a broad lanceolate streak of dusky. Forehead (for about .15 of an 

 inch) yellowish white, this continued back in a broad superciliary stripe of nearly 

 pure white; fore part of crown (for about .35 of an inch) deep black, contin- 

 ued laterally back to and including the ear-like tufts; lores, suborbital region, 

 and broad patch on cheeks (with convex posterior outline), deep black; jugular 

 crescent also deep black, this extending to the lower part of throat; chin and 

 throat pale straw yellow, gradually fading into white on sides of foreneck; ante- 

 rior half of ear coverts white, posterior half drab gray, each portion forming a 

 crescent-shaped patch. Lower parts posterior to the jugulum crescent pure 

 white, the Sides of the breast light vinaceous, the sides similar, but brown, and 



