TITLAEK. 237 



and under pans pale bnffy or ochrey lirowo, variable in shaf'e ; breast and sides of neck 

 and body thickly streaked with dueky ; wings and fail blackish, incer secondaries pale 

 edged; one or more outer tail feathers wholly or partly white. Length abdut 6^; wiug 

 3* ; tail 2i-:i. 

 Habitat, North America everywhere. 



Comnoon spring and fall migrant. The Titlark makes its appearance 

 about the first of October and remains until the first really cold weather, 

 usually about the middle of November. In spring its migration seems 

 to be peculiar. From the tenth to the twenty-fifth of April a few in- 

 dividuals are seen, yet in winter plumage; none are then seen until 

 the end of the first week in May, when smail flocks appear until 

 May 16 ; these are in brteding plumage. The winter and breeding 

 plumages differ more than is usual with birds of so uniform coloration. 

 In the breeding plumage all the feathers of upper parts-are sufSused with 

 whitish, strongly suggesting that the bird has been dusted \ ith plaster of 

 Paris; the bufi'of under parts is decidedly of a pinkish tinge, and the 

 streaks c-nialler, fewer and more sharply defined than in the fall plumage. 

 In the fall they are quite abundant, frequenting the gravelly banks of 

 streams, often wading in the shallows, in commons, t'aliow fields and old 

 brick-yards. In spring they are less common, and found in mtadows. 

 They have many peculiarities; their flight is utidulating, irregular and 

 prolonged, usually high ; their note is a plaintive prolonged " tteep" 

 uttered while on the wing, ending now with a rising and now with a 

 falling inflection. It is difficult to resist the impression from their vac- 

 cillating flight and plantive note that they are confused or lost. When 

 on the ground it has a constant habit of tipping its tail, its common 

 name having probably arisen from this circumstance. It frequently 

 alights on the dead limbs of trees. During the fall migration they some- 

 times visit the city alighting in the streets and on buildings, but are 

 usually seen flying high overhead. 



They breed in the mountains of Colorado in the west, and from Lab- 

 rador northward in the East. The nest is large, built of grass, and 

 placed on the ground. The eggs are four or five, averaging a little over 

 ."io by .60, ''of a dark chocolate color, indistinctly marked with numer- 

 ous small spots .and streaks of blackish." 



FAMILY SYLVICOLID^. WARBLERS. 



Primaries nine. Bill variously conioo-elongafced and acute; cu'lmen not concave at 

 base. Longest secondary not acuminate, falling far short of primaries in the closed 

 ■wing. Hind claw well curved, not nearly twice as long as middle claw ; hind toe and 

 claw not loLger than middle toe and claw. Gape ample ; tongue slightly bifid or brushy, 

 if at all. 



