LARKS 



Alaudidee. 



ARKS are characteristic birds of the old world. Only one species, 

 the Shore Lark, diyided up into a number of local forms, inhabits 

 our territory. They are all attached to open cultivated lands, 

 meadows, fields and the heather being their favorite haunts. Some 

 of the species even haunt the deserts of Asia and Africa. Quite 

 a number of them are celebrated for their exquisite song. The 

 most celebrated of the family is the Sky Lark {Alauda arvensis L.) of Europe. 

 Frequent attempts have been made to add this "bird of poetry" to our 

 avi-fauna. It has been introduced into New York, New^ Jersey, Ohio, 

 Missouri, etc., but it evidently does not readily accomodate itself to our 

 changeable climate, as most of those introduced have perished. Only on 

 Long Island the bird seems to have gained a foothold, and near Portland, 

 Ore., where many European birds thrive in the mild and equable climate, 

 the Sky Lark bids fair to become very numerous in a few years. The song 

 is indeed enchantingly beautiful, but to my ear the rollicking and happy strain of 

 our own Bobolink is more impressive and hilarious. 



HORNED LARK. 



Otocoris alpestris Bonaparte. 



^PEAKING in a general way, the Horned Lark or Shore Lark is one of the most 

 abundant birds of Wisconsin and Illinois, and 1 found it equally numerous in 

 south-western Missouri and iii many parts of Texas. In Wisconsin it was a rather rare 

 bird forty years ago, but after the forests had been transformed into fields, it became 



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