IO2 ALAUDID^E I LARKS. 



FAMILY ALAUDID^E: LARKS. 



SHORE LARK; HORNED LARK. 

 EREMOPHILA ALPESTRIS (.) Boie. 



Chars. Adult male or female, in breeding dress : Above, brown, 

 tinged with pinkish, this peculiar tint brightest on the nape, lesser 

 wing-coverts, and tail-coverts, the rest of the upper parts more 

 grayish, variegated with dusky centres of the feathers. Below, 

 white, shaded on the sides with the color of the back, and ante- 

 riorly more or less tinged with sulphur-yellow. A large black area 

 on the breast. Sides of head and whole throat white or sulphury- 

 yellow, with a crescentic mark of black below each eye, and a 

 black bar across the forehead and thence along the side of the 

 crown, prolonged into a tuft or " horn." Middle tail-feathers 

 like the back ; the rest black, the outer web of the outer pair 

 whitish. Bill blackish, livid blue at base below ; feet black ; 

 iris brown. In winter, as commonly observed in the Eastern 

 States, there is less of the pinkish tinge, though the sulphury- 

 yellow may be very conspicuous ; the black markings about the 

 head and on the breast are obscure or wanting, the whole col- 

 oration being thus much simpler. Length of male, 7.00-7.50 ; 

 extent, 13.00-14.00; wing, 4.25-4.50; tail, 2.75-3.00; bill, 0.40- 

 0.50; tarsus, 0.75-0.90 ; female commonly smaller. 



Though the Shore Lark has been seen in New Eng- 

 land in summer, there is no satisfactory evidence as 

 yet that it breeds within our limits. It occurs irregu- 

 larly during the migrations and in winter, from Octo- 

 ber to April, nearly always in flocks of greater or less 

 extent, and is especially numerous coastwise. While 

 with us, it only frequents open waste places, and is 

 therefore restricted in its local distribution. It is a 



