194 BIRDS OP ALABAMA 



General habits. — In its summer home, this flycatcher lives 

 about cultivated lands, in orchards, hedgerows, and shade 

 trees along country roads. Its abrupt note, sounding like 

 "che-bec," easily calls attention to it and readily distinguishes 

 it from any other bird. 



LARKS: Family Alaudidae. 



HORNED LARK: Otocoris alpestris alpestris (Linnaeus). 



State records. — McCormack records the horned lark as a 

 rare winter visitor, and says of it : 



During an extreme cold snap in January, 1888, a large flock 

 of these birds appeared here [at Leighton] and were seen every 

 day from the 19th to the 28th. During this time the ground 

 was covered with snow to the depth of several inches, and the 

 cold was severe all over the Northern States.t 



At Greensboro, January 19 and 20, 1893, Dr. Avery observed 

 a flock of about a dozen horned larks feeding in the snow 

 close to the railroad depot. Six specimens taken at that time 

 are in his collection and prove to be of the typical race. Miss 

 Carrie E. Parkhurst reports the appearance of horned larks 

 in numbers at Talladega, January 8 to 15, 1910. A specimen 

 taken at Point Clear a number of years ago furnishes the most 

 southern record of the species — a mounted bird preserved in 

 a case of birds in the Point Clear Hotel ; its sub-specific iden- 

 tity could not be determined at the time it was examined. 



General habits. — The horned lark is a bird of the open coun- 

 try, feeding on the ground in flocks, chiefly in cultivated fields 

 or sometimes in village or city streets. It is hardy, nesting 

 early in spring, often while snow still remains on the ground. 

 Its southward distribution in winter is governed largely by 

 the severity of the season, and only in very cold winters does 

 it reach the Southern States. 



The notes of this bird, uttered in flight or while feeding, 

 are a soft and lisping tseep, tseep, somewhat like the notes of 

 the pipit, or titlark (Anthus rubescens). Although for the 

 most part strictly terrestrial, the horned lark indulges during 

 the breeding season in a flight song after the manner of the 

 famous skylark of Europe. 



tLeighton (Ala.) News, vol. 2, No. 17, Sept. 1, 1891. 



