THE OOLOGIST 



43 



ern New York" as a winter resident, 

 and whose term of visitation alternates 

 with that of praticola. 



In 1884 when Langille presented his 

 "Our Birds in Their Haunts" to -the 

 public the division line between o//)e.s- 

 tris and praticola had not grown up 

 and the birds ranging from Western 

 New York to Labrador are by him in- 

 cluded under the one head of Ercmo- 

 phila alpeslris. He says, "Until very 

 recently the breeding habit of this spe- 

 cies has been assigned wholly to the 

 far north, but it is now well understood 

 that it breeds abundantly in the lake 

 counties ef Western New York and 

 more or less to the eastward as far as 

 Troy." 



Since the settling of the present code 

 of nomenclature most writers have, I 

 believe, considered our bird as^)ra<t- 

 cola entirely. I have shot, measured, 

 compared and studied specimens at 

 various seasons in a vain endeavor to 

 separate them into two varieties. The 

 I'esult has been confusion, worse con- 

 founded. At last I am compelled to 

 admit that I have secured no specimens 

 ■which I could ascribe to other than al- 

 peslris [V Ed ] and the result of efforts I 

 submit for what they may be worth. 



Langille gives the measurements as 

 7-7.30 inches length. The length of a 

 series which I took during the winter 

 of '9G-'97 were as follows; 



Jan. 9, male, length 6.56; Feb. 1, fe- 

 male, length 6 65; Feb. 1, male, length 

 6 68; Feb. 2, male, length 6.58; Feb. 2, 

 male, length 6.58; Feb. 2, male, length 

 5.81; Feb. 4; male, length 6.80; Feb. 13, 

 male, length 6.40; Feb. 16, male, length 

 6. 75 (dark breeding plumage); Fee. 16, 

 female, length 6.40; Feb. 18, male, 

 length 6.74; Feb. 18, ?, length 6 60. 



As the above list were shot at ran- 

 dom they probably represent very well 

 the average length of specimens of this 

 particular locality (these specimens 

 were all secured in the town of York, 

 Livingston Co.) It would also seem 



that at this season the males are decid- 

 edly in the majority, as will appear 

 from an inspection of the foregoing 

 scale, and it appears very probable that 

 as the birds begin and become abund- 

 ant preceding the breeding season that 

 the males airive somewhat in advance 

 of the females as is the case with many 

 other species of birds. 



Langille gives the following de.scrip- 

 tion of the Horned Lark. •7-7.50 inches 

 long (as will be seen an average of my 

 specimens is 56 inches), somewhat 

 larger than our ordinary sized, its 

 shape being about as peculiar as its 

 voice. The bill is rather long for a 

 song bird, quite pointed and a little 

 curved; on its head are two tufts of 

 erectile black feathers from which it 

 receives part of its common name. As 

 in .the case of other birds, but unlike 

 the rest of song-birds, the scales of the 

 leg extend around behind; and its 

 is very long and straight. This Lark 

 is always in a squatting position with 

 drooping tail when at rest. With a 

 long black patch on either .cheek; a 

 somewhat triangular black spot on the 

 upper part of the breast, reddish light 

 brown above and dull white beneath, 

 with yellow throat, long pointed wings 

 tipped with black and a tail of the same 

 color, a peculiar undulating flight often 

 accompanied with a soft tseep or tseep- 

 ses, whether sitting, walking or flying, 

 this bird readily appeals to the eye of 

 the observer." ^ 



To this description I will add that 

 the intensity of tints varies greatly in 

 different individuals and at different 

 seasons, the black ranging from a grey- 

 ish, faded tint to jetty; the yellow from 

 very faint to well defined; und the 

 white from dirty sickly white to a much 

 nearer approach to clear white; this 

 largely irrespective of sex, but con- 

 forming largely to seasons as the deep- 

 ening of shades increases in general 

 with the approaching breeding season 

 and declines with its departure. Ten 



