SHORE LARK. 155 



each side, nearly all white ; sides, thighs, and vent pale yellow ochre, 

 streaked with hlack ; upper mandible brown, lower bluish white ; eye- 

 lids furnished with strong black hairs ; legs and feet very large, and of 

 a pale flesh color. 



The female has the black crescent more skirted with gray, and not of so 

 deep a black. In the rest of her markings the plumage diff'ers little 

 from that of the male. I must here take notice of a mistake committed 

 by Mr. Edwards in his history of Birds, Vol. VI., p. 123, where, on the 

 authority of a bird dealer of London, he describes the Calandre Lark 

 (a native of Italy and Russia) as belonging also to North America, and 

 having been brought from Carolina. I can say with confidence, that in 

 all my excursions through that and the rest of the Southern States, I 

 never met such a bird, nor any person who had ever seen it. I have 

 no hesitation in believing that the Calandre is not a native of the 

 United States. 



Species II. ALAUDA ALPESTRIS* 



SHORE LARK. 



[Plate V. Fig. 4.] 



Alauda alpestris, Linn. Sysi. 289. — Lath. Syn. ii., 385. — Alauda campestris gut- 

 ture flavo, Bartram, p. 290. — L'AloueUe deVirginie, Buff, v., 55. — Catesb. 

 I., 32.t 



This is the most beautiful of its genus, at least in this part of the 

 world. It is one of our winter birds of passage, arriving from the north 

 in the fall ; usually staying with us the whole winter, frequenting sandy 

 plains and open downs, and is numerous in the Southern States, as far 

 as Georgia, during that season. They fly high, in loose scattered flocks ; 

 and at these times have a single cry, almost exactly like the Sky-Lark 

 of Britain. They are very numerous in many tracts of New Jersey ; 

 and are frequently brought to Philadelphia market. They are then 

 generally very fat, and are considered excellent eating. Their food 

 seems principally to consist of small round compressed black seeds, buck- 

 wheat, oats, &c., with a large proportion of gravel. On the flat com- 

 mons, within the boundaries of the city of Philadelphia, flocks of them 



* Of the three species referred by "Wilson to Alauda this is the only one which 

 belongs to that genus, as restricted by modern ornithologists. 



t We add the following synonymes : — Alauda alpestris, Linn. Ed. 10. Syst. i., 

 p. 166. — Gmel. Syst. i., p. 800. — Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p 498. — Alauda flava, Gmel. 

 Syst. I., p. 800, (adult male in breeding dress). — Alauda Virginiana, Briss. hi., p., 

 367, 12.— Alouette de Siberie, Buff. PI. Enl. 650, fig. 2. 



