17G 



VERTEBRATA. 





..r^ ^. ^\t. 



THE SHORE-LARK. 



The Short-toed Lark, A. brachi/dactyla,\s, a small species, five inches long, of a sandy-brown 

 above, beneath whitish ; common in Southern Europe. The Shore-Lark, A. alpestris, is six 

 inches long, and found in the north of Europe and Asia. Specimens have been occasionally met 

 with as far south as France and Ens:] and. 



The HoRXED Lark, A. cornuta, is an American bird, until lately confounded with the prece- 

 ding; it is seven inches long; the male has an erectile crest; color, dusky brown above; breast 

 reddish-brown; the nest placed on the ground; the eggs olive-white. This is a beautiful spe- 

 cies, and one of our winter birds of passage, arriving from the north in the fall, usually staying 

 with us the whole winter, frequenting sandy plains and open downs, and is numerous in the 

 Southern States, as far as Georgia, during that season. They fly high, in loose, scattered flocks, 

 and at these times have a single cry, like the sky-lark. They are very numerous in many tracts 

 of New Jersey, and are frequently brought to Philadelphia market. They are then generally very 

 iat, and are considered excellent eating. Their food seems principally to consist of small, round, 

 compressed black seeds, buckwheat, oats, &c., with a large proportion of gravel. They are said 

 to have a pleasing song. 



Other American species are the Brown Lark, A. rufa, six inches long; brown-olive above; 

 brownish-ochre beneath ; habits similar to the preceding ; the A. minor^ found in Texas ; and 

 the A. Spraguei., found on the upper Missouri. 



THE BnLL-FINCH. 



THE PYRRHULIN^ OR BULL-FINCHES. 

 These birds greatly resemble the grosbeaks in some respects, and especially i-n the size and 



