ALAUDID.E — TlIK LARKS. i;]: 



Family ALAUDIDiE. — The Lauks. 



CiiAH. First |iiiiiiiu-y vcrv sliort or wanting. Tui-si .sciilelliitL- aiitLM'ioi'iy niid postoriorly, 

 with tlie pliitfs nearly of coricsponcling position and number. Uiii.l claw vi'ry long 

 ftnd nearly .straight. Hill short, conical, frontal feathers extending along side of the hill; 

 the nostrils concealed l>y a tiiil of Ijristly feathers directed forw ird. Tertials greatly 

 elongate beyond the secondaries. 



Subfamilies and Genera. 



Alaudinse. Hill stout, short, and conical ; nasal fossa; transverse and coMiiilelely 

 lilled liy the thi';k tuft of bristly feathers, and perforated anteriorly by a circular 

 nasal opening. (Old and New World.) 



Crown with a depressed sort crest of feathers, of normal structure ; a spu- 

 rious primary ; tail deeply emargiuatc Alaiida. 



Urown without a crest, but occiput with an erectile tuft of narrow elon- 

 gated feathers on each side. No spurious primary ; tail .square, or slightly 



rounded h'remophila. 



CalandritinsB. Bill broader, more depressed, and straightcr at the base ; nasal 

 Ibssie longitudinal, large, elongated, the nasal opening rather linear. (Old World.) 



Of the Alavdiila only the two <,'cnoia diagnosed above belong to the 

 American continent ; and one of them is properly only a wanderer from the 

 Old World, while the otlier is cosmopolitan. 



The most characteristic feature of the Larks among other oscine families 

 is seen in thj scntellation of the tarsus. Tlie anterior half of this is cov- 

 ered by divided scales lap])ing round on the sides, but instead of the two 

 plates which go one on each side of the posterior half and unite ultimately 

 behind as an acute ridge, there is but one which laps round on tlie sides, 

 and is divided into scales like the anterior ones, but alternating with them. 

 The posterior edge of the tfirsus is as obtuse as the anterior, instead of 

 being very acute. Tliere is a deep separating groove on the inner side of the 

 tarsus ; and there may be really but one plate divided transversely, the edges 

 meeting at tliis place. 



In the elongated hind claw and lengthened tertials, general style of color- 

 ation, mode of life, and manner of nesting, there is a decided approximation 

 in the Alaudidm to the AnthirKv, of the family Motmillidcc ; but in these 

 tlie posterior edge of the tarsus is sharp and undivided transversely, the toes 

 more deeply cleft, the bill more slender, etc., — tiieir relations being rather 

 nearer to the Sylvicolidw than to the present family. 



Genus ALAUDA, Linn. 



Alauda, Link. S. N. 1735. 



Gen. Char. Bill very small, less than half the length of the head, conical ; nostrils 

 exposed ; rictal bristles quite strong ; commissure without notch ; tarsus much longer 



