322 
ALAUDINiE. 
white, with numerous dusky spots. Belly and 
vent white, flanks with oblong dusky streaks. 
Tail dusky, the exterior feathers having the outer 
web, and half of the inner one, sullied white ; the 
next to it, with a small wedge-shaped white spot 
near the tip ; legs and toes brown ; claws not 
much curved, the hind one nearly straight, and 
longer than the toe.”* The plumage of the adult 
state, or breeding season, is much more con- 
trasted, the head, throat, and upper part of the 
breast, being of a rich and clear black, which is 
relieved by a margin of white, running into the 
light colour of the lower parts. The upper parts 
are of a clear rufous brown, with the centre of 
the feathers black, and having the colours of the 
wings and tail deeper, and more distinctly marked. 
In the female, at the same season, “ the chin is 
grayish, the black plumage of the head and 
breast edged with pale brown and gray, the 
chestnut feathers on the nape fringed with 
white.” f All the specimens which have been 
taken in this country agree nearly with that 
described by Mr Selby, and have either been 
young birds, or those which have passed from 
their breeding plumage. 
From these Lark-Buntings, a title indicating a 
mixture of characters, we are led to the next 
sub-family, Alaudinw, or True Larks, easily 
distinguished from any of the preceding birds by 
* Selby, British Ornithology, i. p. 285. 
t Northern Zoology. 
