264 



Henshaw on the Norf/t American Shore Larks. [J"ly 



O. alpestris strigata. — Wing, 3.99; tail, 2.75: bill, .76; tarsuy, .44. 

 (Average of 2 males.) Coloration above very dark; much less cinnamon 

 than in either rubeus or chrysola^ma ; back distinctly striped with dusky; 

 breast usually yellow. In some fall specimens the 3'ellow overspreads the 

 entire under parts. Habitat, coast region of Washington Territory and 

 Oregon. 



Descriptions of New Races. 

 O. alpestris praticola, var. nov. Prairie Horned Lark. 



SuBSP. Char. — Adult $ in Sfring (No. 90763, Richland Co., 111., May 

 16, 1883; R. Ridgway) : Posterior portion of crown, occiput, nape, sides 

 of neck and breast, lesser wing-coverts, and shorter upper tail-coverts, 

 light vinaceous; back, scapulars, and rump, grayish brown, the feath- 

 ers with darker centres, becoming darker and much more distinct on the 

 rump; middle wing-coverts light vinaceous terminally, brownish gray 

 basally. Wings (except as described) grayish brown, the feathers with 

 paler edges; outer primary with outer web chiefly white. Middle pair of 

 tail-feathers light brown (paler on edges), the central portion (longitudi- 

 nally) much darker, approaching dusky ; remaining tail-feathers uniform 

 black, the outer pair with exterior web broadly edged with white. Longer 

 upper tail-coverts light brown, edged with whitish, and marked with a 

 broad lanceolate streak of dusky. Forehead (for about .15 of an inch) yel- 

 lowish white, this continued back in a broad superciliary stripe of nearly 

 pure white; fore part of crown (for about .35 of an inch) deep black, con- 

 tinued laterally back to and including the ear-like tufts; lores, suborbital 

 region, and broad patch on cheeks (with convex postei-ior outline) deep 

 black; jugular crescent also deep black, this extending to the lower part of 

 throat; chin and throat pale straw-yellow, gradually fading into white on 

 sides of foreneck; anterior half of ear-coverts white, posterior half drab- 

 gray, each portion forming a crescent-shaped patch. Lower parts posterior 

 to the jugular crescent pure^ white, the sides of the breast light vinaceous, 

 the sides similar but brown, and indistinctly sti-eaked with darker. Upper 

 mandible plumbeous-black, lower bluish plumbeous ; iris deep brown ; 

 legs and feet brownish black. Wing 4.30, tail 2.85, culmen .47, tarsus .85. 



Adult $ in winter (No. 95583, U. S. Nat. Mus., Gainesville, Texas, 

 Feb. 12, 1884; G. H. Ragsdale) : Similar to the spring plumage but 

 darker, with the vinaceous somewhat obscured by gi-ayish brown, the 

 black by pale tips to the feathers, and yellow of throat slightly deeper. 

 Wing, 4.20, tail, 3.00, culmen, .43, tarsus, .85. 



Adult $ in spring (No. 90760, Richland Co., 111., May 25, 1884; R. 

 Ridgway) : Above grayish brown, the pileum narrowly and distinctly, the 

 dorsal region broadly and less sharply, streaked with dusky; nape, .les- 

 ser wing-coverts, and shorter upper tail-coverts dull light vinaceous, the 

 first very indistinctly streaked. A narrow frontlet and broad superciliary 

 stripe (the latter very sharply defined above) dull white; lores, suborbital 



