of the United States . 
Moult annually. Some have rich colouring in the spring, 
and assume the humble dress of the female in aututnn. 
Granivorqus ; separating the grain from its envelope : 
some feed occasionally on insects, and nourish their young 
with them. Few build very skilful nests. Generally migra- 
tory in the temperate climates of North America and Eu- 
rope : some migrate in large flocks in autumn. Many sing 
well. Flesh generally palatable. 
Allied to the iEgithali by the genus Parus ; but much 
more intimately to the Gregarii, which exhibit an insensible 
passage, by the short thick-billed Jcteri, to Fringilla.* in- 
timately related also to the Canori by Alauda, which is 
,so closely allied to Anthus, that no natural series ought to 
separate them. 
31. ALAUDA. 
Alauda , L. Briss. Gm. Bath. 111 . Cuv. Temm. Vieill. Ranz . 
Bill rather short, somewhat robust, straight, conic-attenu- 
ated, acute, with bristles at base ; upper mandible convex, 
entire ; lower hardly shorter, compressed : nostrils basal, 
oval, with an arched membrane, covered by the porrect fea- 
thers of the frontlet : tongue cartilaginous, bifid. Tarsus 
not very slender, longer than the middle toe ; toes free 5 hind 
toe thickest, and nearly equal to the outer : hind nail nearly 
straight, acuminate, generally longer than the toe. Wings 
moderate ; spurious feather very short ; second and third 
primages longest ; first and fourth subequal $ secondaries 
cmarginate at tip ; two of the scapulars nearly as long as 
the primaries. Tail generally emarginate. 
'* The African genus Ploceus is another link between the two %nilips, 
as it may be placed with equal propriety in either, though, on account of 
its habits, we, with Vieillot, place it in Gregarii. 
Vol.H. 13 
