SPECIES 2. ALJiUD^ .aLPESTRIS* 
SHORE LARK. 
[Plate V. — Fig. 4.] 
Mauda alpestris, Linn. Syst. 289.— Lath. Syn. ii, 385 . — Mauda 
campestris gutture flavo, Bartram,^. 290 . — UMouette de Vir- 
ginie. Buff, v, 55. — Catesb. i, 32. — Peale’s Museum, JVo. 
5190.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 nu- 
merous in the southern states, as far as Georgia, during that sea- 
son. 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, buckwheat, oats, &c. with a large proportion of 
gravel. On the flat commons, within the boundaries of the city 
of Philadelphia, flocks of them are regularly seen during the 
whole winter. In the stomach of these I have found, in numer- 
ous instances, quantities of the eggs or larvae of certain insects, 
mixed with a kind of slimy earth. About the middle of March 
fhe)r generally disappear, on their route to the north. Forster 
* Of the three species referred by Wilson to Mauda this is the only one 
which belongs to that genus, as restricted by modern ornithologists. 
■(■We add the following synonyines: — Mauda alpestris, Linn. Ed. 10. Syst. i, 
p. 166 Gmel. Syst. i, p. 800. — Lath. Ind. Om. ii, p. 498. — Mauda flava, 
Gmel. Syst. I, p. 800, (adult male in breeding di’ess). — Mauda Vifginiana, 
Biiiss. Ill, p. 367, 12. — Jlloxietle de Siberie, BvFt. PI. Enl. 650, Jig. 2. 
