156 KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



8. Fish Crow (490. Cdrviis ossifragus). — Almost exactly like 

 the last, but smaller. This is a brighter, cleaner, smoother- 

 plumaged bird, with more metallic-purplish reflections on the 

 back and somewhat greenish ones below. The voice is differ- 

 ent, but the difference cannot be readily described. 



Length, 15-17; wing, 10-11^; tail, G] ; tarsus, 1|; culmen, If. At- 

 lantic and Gulf coasts from Connecticut to Louisiana, mainly resident. 

 Clark's Nutcracker (491. Nudfraga columbiana). — A large, gray, crow- 

 like bird with wings glossy black, except the white tips of the secondaries ; 

 and the tail white, except the black middle feathers. Length, 12| ; wing, 

 7| ; tail, 5; tarsus. If; culmen, 1|. Western North America from the 

 Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, mainly in evergreen forests. Accidental 

 in Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas. The PiSon Jay (492. Cyanocephidns 

 cyanocephalus) of the high lands between the Rocky Mountains and the 

 Sierra Nevada is a large, dull- blue bird, with the head somewhat brighter. 

 It has been seen both in eastern Kansas and eastern Nebraska. It Is 

 peculiar for this family in that its nostrils are not covered with bristly 

 feathers. Length, 11 ; wing, 5| ; tail, 4J ; culmen, l\. 



FAMILY XVII. LARKS (ALAUDID^) 



A family (100 species) of almost exclusively Old World 

 ground birds with the nail of the hind toe very long 

 and nearly straight,' and the inner secondaries much 

 lengthened.^ It is represented in North America 

 by but one species, if we except the noted singer, 

 the European skylark, which has been brought into 

 this country and allowed to escape several times, and 

 is thought to be established on Long Island. 2 



Key to the Species 



* First primary about as long as the longest ; tail nearly even at tip ; 



sides of head with a peculiar tuft of elongated black feathers 



1. Horned Lark. 



* First primary short ; tail decidedly notched at tip Skylark (1). 



1. Horned Lark (474. Otdcoris alp/'Mris). — A chocolate- 

 backed, ground-running, mainly winter bird, with distinct black 

 and yellow marks on the head and breast. The under parts 

 are whitish, and the black tail feathers are somewhat margined 



