Brown, Olive or Grayish Brown, and Brown and Gray Sparrowy Birds 



Horned Lark 



(Otocoris alpestris) Lark family 



Called also: SHORE LARK 



Length — 7. 5 to 8 inches. About one-fifth smaller than the robin. 



Male— Upper parts dull brown, streaked with lighter on edges 

 and tinged with pink or vinaceous ; darkest on back of head, 

 neck, shoulders, and nearest the tail. A few erectile feathers 

 on either side of the head form slight tufts or horns that are 

 wanting in female. A black mark from the base of the bill 

 passes below the eye and ends in a horn-shaped curve on 

 cheeks, which are yellow. Throat clear yellow. Breast has 

 crescent-shaped black patch. Underneath soiled white, with 

 dusky spots on lower breast. Tail black, the outer feathers 

 margined with white, noticed in flight. 



Female — Has yellow eye-stripe; less prominent markings, espe- 

 cially on head, and is a trifle smaller. 



Range — Northeastern parts of North America, and in winter 

 from Ohio and eastern United States as far south as North 

 Carolina. 



Migrations — October and November. March. Winter resident. 



Far away to the north in Greenland and Labrador this true 

 lark, the most beautiful of its genus, makes its summer home. 

 There it is a conspicuously handsome bird with its pinkish-gray 

 and chocolate feathers, that have greatly faded into dull browns 

 when we see them in the late autumn. In the far north only 

 does it sing, and, according to Audubon, the charming song is 

 flung to the breeze while the bird soars like a skylark. In the 

 United States we hear only its call-note. 



Great flocks come down the Atlantic coast in October and 

 November, and separate into smaller bands that take up their resi- 

 dence in sandy stretches and open tracts near the sea or wher- 

 ever the food supply looks promising, and there the larks stay 

 until all the seeds, buds of bushes, berries, larvae, and insects in 

 their chosen territory are exhausted. They are ever conspicu- 

 ously ground birds, walkers, and when disturbed at their dinner, 

 prefer to squat on the earth rather than expose themselves by 

 flight. Sometimes they run nimbly over the frozen ground to 

 escape an intruder, but flying they reserve as a last resort. When 

 the visitor has passed they quickly return to their dinner. If they 

 were content to eat less ravenously and remain slender, fewer 



134 



