size. 



286 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —PASSERES— OSCINES. 



89. A. ludovicia'nus. (Lat. of Louisiana ; Ludovieus, Louis. Fig. 159. J Louisiana Pipit. 

 American Titlark. Brown Lark. Wagtail. Upi^er parts dark brown with au olive 



shade, most of the feathers with dusky centres, giving an obscure 

 streaky or nebulous appearance ; eyelids, superciliary line, and all 

 under parts brownish-white, or pale buffy or ochrey brown, very 

 \ariable in shade from muddy white to rich buff, the breast and sides 

 of the body and neck tliickly streaked with dusky; wings and tail 

 blackish, the inner secondaries pale-edged, and 1-3 outer tail-feathers 

 \\ liite wholly or in part. IjUI blacliish, pale at base bchiw; feet brown. 

 Length 6.25-6.75, scjmetimes 7.00; extent 10.25-11.00; wing 3.25- 

 3.50; tail 2.75-3.00; bill 0.50 ; tarsus 0.90. N. Am., everywhere ; 

 an abundant and well-known bird of fiekls and plains ; migratory ; in 

 Fig. 159. — Titlark, nat. the U.S. seen chicfiy in ilocks in fall, winter, and early spring; 

 (Ad nat. del. E.o.) breeds in higli latitudes, and in the Eocky Mts. above timber line 

 as far south as Colorado; lays '1-6 very dark-colored eggs, 0.80 X 0.60, in a mossy or grassy 

 nest (in the ground; voice querulous, gait tremulous, tiiglit vacillating. 

 32. NEO'CORYS. (Gr. vcos, neos, new; Kopvs, korus, a helmet, and hence applied to a kind of 

 crested lark.) Sky Pipits. Characters of Anthiis, from which little distinguished by tlie 

 shorter and more nearly even tail and larger feet, which when outstretched reach beyond the 

 end o{ the tail; tarsus shorter than hind toe and claw. Colors clearer and markings more dis- 

 tinct tlian in Anthus liidovicianus ; more as in some European species oi Anthus. 



90. N. spra'guii. (To Isaac Sprague, of Mass.) Sprague's Pipit. Missouri Titlark. 

 ^\.bove, variegated with numerous streaks of dark brown and gray, in largest pattern on the 

 back, smallest on the nape, the gray constituting the edging of the feathers. Below, dull whit- 

 ish, mcjre or less brownish-shaded across the breast and along the sides ; the bi-east sharply 

 streaked, the sides less distinctly so, with dusky ; a more or less evident series of maxillary 

 sjiots. Quills dark grayish-brown; the inner ones, and the wing-coverts, edged with grayish- 

 fl'hite, corresponding to the pattern of the back. Middle tail-feathers like the back ; next ones 

 blackish-brown, the two outer pair wholly or mostly pjtire white, the 3d pair from the outside 

 usually tcaiched with white near the end. With reduction of the gray edgings of the feathers 

 of the upper parts by wearing away in summer, the bird becomes darker above, with narrower 

 and sharper variegation, and the pectoral streaks are fainter. Bill blackish above ; below, 

 like tlie feet, pale flesh-color; iris black. After the fall moult the colors again become pure; 

 the streaking of the upper parts is strong and sharp, and the under parts accpiire a ruddy-brown 

 shade. Young : Edgings of the feathers of the upper parts buffy, giving a rich complexion to 

 the jdumage; feathers of back with pure M'hite edging, forming conspicuous semicircular mark- 

 ings ; greater wing-coverts and long inner secondaries broadly tipped with white, aud prima- 

 ries broadly edged and tipped with white or buff. Ear-coverts butfy-browu, forming a uKjre 

 conspicuous patch than in the adult. Under parts strongly tinged, except on throat and middle 

 of belly, with buffy-brown, the pectoral aud lateral streaks large and diifused. Sexes iudistin- 

 guishable; ? rather smaller than <J. Length 6.25-6.75, rarely 7.00; extent lU. 00-11. 00, 

 generally about 10.50, rarely 11.50; wing 3.00-3.30; tail 2.25-2.10; biU 0.50; tarsus 0.80- 

 0.90; middle toe and claw 0.90; hind toe and claw nearly 1.00, the claw alone about 0.50. 

 Central portions of the U. S., and adjoining British Provinces, from the eastern edge of the 

 high central plains to the Rocky Mts., from the valleys of the Eed Kiver of the North and 

 of the Saskatchewan to Texas ; breeding in profusion in Dakota and Montana ; nest on the 

 ground, of fine dried grasses, sometimes arched over; eggs 4-5, 0.90X0.60, grayish-white 

 minutely flecked with darker, giving a purplish cast. General habits and manners of titlarks; 

 but soaring tiiglit when singing, and the song itself, having all the qualities which have made 

 the European skylark famous, aud being no less wcu'thy of celebration in poetry. 



