SHORE LAEK. 235 



years became exterminated. Col. Harris says of their introduction in 

 this city, (I.e.) "In the autunmof 1851, Mr. Bateham, on his return from 

 England, brought a cage of the real English Skylarks, whick, after keep- 

 ing a few weeks at his residence, near the Lunatic Asylum, were set at 

 liberty in the grove back of that institution. They very shortly disap- 

 peared entirely, and no doubt perished, either in the severe winter which 

 followed, or by the hand of the fowler." 



Gekus EREMOPIIILA. Boie. 



Bill shorter than the head, colnp^e^secl. Nostrils circular. Primaries nine, the first ap- 

 pareutly wanting. Wings long; tail uiediam, nearly square. A peculiar tuft oi feathers 

 over ear, like the "horns" of certain owls. 



Eremophila alpestris (Purst.) Boie. 



Horned Lark j Sllore Ijarll. 



Alauda alpesh-is, Kirtland, Ohio Geolog. Suiv., 18:J8, 164, 183 — Eead, Proc. Philad. 

 Acad. Nat. Soi., vi, 18.)3, 395.— Wheaton, Field Notos, i, 1861, 92. 



Eremophila cornata, Baird, P. K. R. Rep., ix, If'S-i, 405. — Whbaton, Ohio Agric. Rep. for 

 1860, 3d5, :i7r); Raprint, 1861, 7, 17. 



Eremophila alpeslris, Wheaton,- Food of Birds, etfc , Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 563 ; Re- 

 print, 1875, 3.— Langdon, Cat. Birds of Gin., 1877, 4 ; Revised List, Journ. Cin. Soo. 

 Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 176; Reprint, 10. 



Alauda alpeslris, LiNNiEOS, Sysi. Nat., i, 1758, 16G. 



Eremophila alpestris, Boie, Isis, 1828, 322. 



Eremophila cornuta, Boie, Isis, 1828, 3i2. ■ 



In spring : Above, pinkish brown, brightest on rump, nape and wing coverts, thickly 

 streaked with dusky ; below white, breasts and sides hhaded witli the color of the back; 

 chin, throat, and superciliary line pale yellow, or yellowish-white ; a pectoral crescent, 

 and curved stripe through the eye, black; tail black, outer feathers white-edged and 

 middle ones Kke the back. Winter birds much duller above, the black markings obscure. 

 Length, 7-7|; wing, 4-J-; tail, if-S; tarsus, .J; hind claw, |-f ; very slender and sharp. 



Habitat, Northern Hemisphere; in the Eastern United States, eonth in winter to 

 South Carolina. 



Abundant winter resident. Arrives about the first of November and 

 departs about the first of April. The first Shore-Larks to appear are soli- 

 tary individuals who associate with the Tit-larks just before they depart 

 southward. As soon as the first considerable snow appears, they arrive 

 in force, frequenting fields and barnyards where cattle are fed, meadows, 

 commons, old brick-yards, and the gravelly shores of streams. When 

 their ordinary supply of food is cut ofi' by a deep snow, they feed upon 

 the seeds of the rag weed (Ambrosia), which projects above it. Should 

 this fail they gather in the beaten roads, and there obtain a scant sus- 

 tenance from ofial. The flocks vary in size from those of a dozen to those 

 of a hundred or more birds, usually from thirty to fifty are found in a 



