612 



The food of the Shore-Lark consists of grass-seeds, the 

 blossoms of dwarf plants, and insects. It is an expert 

 catcher of flies, following them to a considerable distance, 

 and now and then betaking itself to the sea- shore to search 

 for small mollusks or crustaceans. 



The adult male has the bill bluish horn-colour, paler at 

 the base of the lower mandible : the irides hazel : the lores 

 and cheeks, deep black ; the ear-coverts, a streak over each 

 eye and the forehead yellowish-white ; a broad black band 

 crosses the top of the head, and ends on each side in the 

 tufts of long, pointed and erectile feathers, characteristic of 

 this genus ; the rest of the head, the nape, mantle and upper 

 tail-coverts, delicate pinkish-brown, each feather being rather 

 darker along the shaft than near the edges ; the smaller wing- 

 coverts almost of the same hue but with white tips ; the 

 back, the greater wing-coverts and tertials hair-brown, with 

 lighter margins ; primaries and secondaries hair-brown, with 

 very narrow lighter edges, and the outer long primary (which 

 in this genus is the second) with a distinct white outer 

 margin ; the two middle tail-feathers hair-brown, with lighter 

 margins, the others pitch-black, except part of the edge of 

 the outer web of the outer feather on each side, which is 

 white ; chin, throat and sides of the neck, yellowish-white ; 

 front of the neck with a gorget of deep black ; the breast, 

 T^elly and lower tail-coverts, nearly pure white ; flanks tinged 

 with pinkish-brown ; legs, toes and claws, bluish-black. 

 This is the plumage of summer. In winter, the black on 

 the crown of the head, on the cheeks and chest, is more 

 indistinct, and the white markings on the head are more 

 deeply tinged with yellow. 



The whole length of the male is about seven inches, but 

 there is some individual variation. From the carpal joint to 

 the tip of the wing, four inches and a quarter : the first pri- 

 mary, as already stated in the generic characters of this 

 group, is exceedingly small, the outermost long feather of 

 the wing being the second ; this is a trifle longer than the 

 third, which again is longer than the fourth, while the fifth 

 is decidedly shorter ; but in many of the examples obtained 



