HORNED LARK. 



474. Otocoris alpestris. 7% inches. 



This variety, which is larger than its sub-species, 

 is only found in the U. S. in winter, but several of the 

 sub-species are residents in our limits. During the 

 mating season they have a sweet song that is uttered on 

 the wing, like that of the Bobolink. 



Notes. Alarm note and call a whistled "tseet," 

 "tseet"; song a low, sweet and continued warble. 



Nest. A hollow in the ground lined with grass; 

 placed in fields and usually partially concealed by an 

 overhanging sod or stone. The three to five eggs have 

 a grayish ground color and are profusely specked and 

 blotched with gray and brownish ( .85 x .60 ) . 



Range. Breeds in Labrador and about Hudson Bay; 

 south in winter to South Carolina and Illinois. 



Sub-species. 474b. Prairie Horned Lark (praticola). 

 A paler forjn usually with the line over the eye white, 

 found in the Mississippi Valley. 474c. Desert Horned 

 Lark ( leucolamia ) . Paler and less distinctly streaked 

 above than the Prairie; found west of the Mississippi 

 and north to Alberta. 



