402 
U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS—ZOOLOGY-GENERAL REPORT. 
Family ALA UD I DAE* 
First primary very short or wanting. Tarsi scutellate anteriorly and posteriorly, with the plates nearly of corresponding 
positioned number. Hind claw very long and nearly straight. Bill short, conical, frontal feathers extending along the side 
of the bill|; the nostrils usually concealed by a tuft of bristly feathers directed forwards. Tertials greatly elongated beyond the 
secondaries. 
Of the family of Alaudidae but a single genus, Eremophila, is found in North America. The most 
characteristic feature of the larks, among the other Oscines is seen in the structure of the tarsus. 
The anterior half of this is covered by divided scales lapping round on the sides, hut instead of 
the two plates which go one on each side of the posterior half, and uniting ultimately behind as 
an acute ridge, there is hut one which laps round on the sides anteriorly, and is divided into 
scales like the anterior ones, but alternating with them. The posterior edge of the tarsus is as 
obtuse as the anterior, instead of being very acute. There is a deep separating groove on the 
inner side of the tarsus, and there may really be but one plate divided transversely, the edges 
meeting at this place. 
The other characters of the Alaudidae , the long, straight, or slightly curved hind claw, the 
elongated tertials, and, to some extent, the shape of the bill, are shared by the Anthinae or 
Motacillinae. Here, however, the posterior edge of the tarsus is sharp and undivided trans¬ 
versely, the toes more deeply cleft, the bill more slender, &c. 
There are two very distinct groups among the larks, possibly entitled to rank as sub-families. 
In the one the bill is stout, short, and conical. The nasal fossae transverse and completely 
filled by the thick tuft of bristly feathers, and perforated anteriorly by a circular nasal opening. 
In the F other the bill is broader, more depressed, and straighter at the base. The nasal fossae 
are large, elongated, their axis parallel to the commissure, with rather linear nasal openings, 
not covered by feathers, but with merely a few bristles which do not conceal the nostrils. The 
type of the former may be considered as the European skylark, to which our Neocorys spraguei 
bears so much resemblance in habit, but there is no American representative inform, the species 
all belonging to the other group, the Calandritinae of Cabanis, as distinguished from the 
Alaudinae. 1 
EREMOPHILA, Boie. 
Eremophila, Boie, Isis, 1828, 322. Type Jllauda alpestris. Sufficiently distinct from Eremophilus, Humboldt, 
(Fishes,) 1805. 
Phileremos, Brehm, Deutschl. Vogel, 1831. 
“ Otocoris, Bonaparte, 1839. Type Jllauda alpestris.” (Gray.) Iam unable to find where the genus is named. 
Cii.—F irst primary wanting ; bill scarcely higher than broad ; nostrils circular, concealed by a dense tuft of feathers ; the nasal 
fossae oblique. A pectoral crescent and cheek patches of black. 
This genus differs from Melanocorypha in having no spurious first primary, although the other 
characters are somewhat similar. Calandritis of Cabanis, with the same lack of first primary, 
has a much stouter bill. The spurious primary, more depressed bill, and differently constituted 
nostrils and nasal fossae of Alauda are readily distinctive. 
■ The Melanocorypha calandra of Boie, ( Jllauda calandra,) is doubtfully referred to by Richardson, F. B. Am. II, 244, as found 
in the fur countries. 
