Chapter X: Section IV: Crown rufous; body above, olive-green (1)

Pipilo chlorurus, BAIRD.

GREEN-TAILED BUNTING; BLANDING’S FINCH.

_Fringilla chlorura_, (TOWNSEND,) AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 336
(Young). _Zonotrichia chlorura_, GAMBEL, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. 2d
Series, I, 1847, 51. _Embernagra chlorura_, BONAP. Conspectus,
1850, 483. _Fringilla blandingiana_, GAMBEL, Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph.
I, April, 1843, 260. _Embernagra blandingiana_, CASSIN, Illus.
I, III, 1853, 70, pl. xii. _Pipilo rufipileus_, LAFRESNAYE,
Rev. Zoöl. XI, June, 1848, 176.—BP. Conspectus, 1850, 487.
_Kieneria rufipileus_, BON. Comptes Rendus, XL, 1855, 356.
_Pipilo chlorura_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am., 1858, 519.—HEERM. X,
c, 15.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 248.

SP. CHAR. Above dull grayish olive-green. Crown uniform chestnut. Forehead with superciliary stripe, and sides of the head and neck, the upper part of the breast and sides of the body, bluish-ash. Chin and upper part of throat abruptly defined white, the former margined by dusky, above which is a short white maxillary stripe. Under tail-coverts and sides of body behind brownish-yellow. Tail-feathers generally, and exterior of wings, bright olive-green, the edge and under surface of the wings bright greenish-yellow; edge of first primary white. First quill longer than eighth, fourth longest. Length, about 7 inches; wing, 3.20; tail, 3.65.

HAB. Whole of the Middle Province, including the Rocky Mountains and eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada; north to beyond the 40th parallel; south to Mexico.

In this species the wing is considerably rounded, the tertials considerably shorter than the primaries, and not exceeding the secondaries; the fourth quill longest, the first shorter than the sixth, the second and fifth quills considerably longer than the rest. The tail is long and considerably graduated, the outer feather half an inch shortest; the feathers broad and obtusely pointed, the corners rounded.

[Line drawing: _Pipilo chlorurus._
38493]

The extent of the chestnut of the crown varies somewhat; more extended probably in the males. The region on the side of the head, adjoining the nostrils, is whitish; the small feathers under the eye are spotted with the same. The posterior outline of the ash of the breast is much less sharply defined than the anterior.

Specimens vary in the brightness of the olive above, which is never as pure as that of the wings and tail. The olive of the tail, too, is darker than that of the wings.

A very young bird (1,896) has the whole under parts dull white, streaked and spotted on the sides of the throat and on the breast with dark brown. The crown and back are also thickly spotted. In 5,734 the ash of the breast has made its appearance; the middle of the belly is white, spotted; the chin white, encircled by spots. The spots above are restricted to near the head, and there is a small central patch of chestnut on the crown.

No. 1,896 is the original “Green-tailed Sparrow” killed July 12, 1834, by Townsend, and described in an extract of a letter to Mr. Audubon, published page 336 of Vol. V. of the Ornithological Biography.

HABITS. Dr. Kennerly, who procured a specimen of this bird at San Elizario, Tex., December 16, states that it was obtained with some difficulty. For several successive days it was found in the same place, occupying a small clump of very thick weeds. When aroused, which was only accomplished with some effort, its flight was short, rapid, and decidedly irregular. Its motions on the ground were very awkward. This species was found by Mr. Ridgway very generally distributed throughout the fertile mountain portions of the interior. It was not seen by him in California, and was first met with in the ravines at the base of the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. On the high mountain-ranges it was a characteristic and the best-known singer, as well as one of the most abundant of the _Fringillidæ_, being found in all bushy places, from the bases to the summits of the mountains. It is exclusively a summer species, arriving at Carson City about the middle of April. He describes the usual note of this bird as very peculiar, and, as nearly as can be described, a sweet laughing utterance of the syllables _keek-keek´_, a little resembling the _tweet_ of a Canary, but very musical. This curious note was generally uttered when anything unusual attracted its attention, such as the approach of an intruder. Then, with elevated tail and its very conspicuous red cap raised, it would hop familiarly and unsuspiciously about. He adds that it is a songster of high merit, in power and variety ranking very little below the song of the _Chondestes grammaca_. The song varies in the modulations greatly with the individual, but the same general style is preserved. At times it seemed to have a slight resemblance to the song of Bewick’s Wren, and at others to that of a _Cyanospiza_, and more rarely, to be the reproduction of a passage from the song of the _Chondestes_.

In the early part of July, near Austin, in the cañons of the mountains, he found these birds breeding in the greatest abundance, and later in the same month a few of its nests were found on the East Humboldt Mountains. All of its nests, with hardly an exception, were placed from eighteen inches to two feet above the ground, among the thick bushes of a species of _Symphoricarpus_, or “snow-berry,” which grows in great abundance upon the sides of the cañons of those mountains. The maximum number of eggs was four. It was also quite a common bird in the Wahsatch Mountains, though less abundant than the _P. megalonyx_.

Mr. Allen found this Finch quite numerous in Colorado Territory, and speaks of its song as very peculiar and very pleasing. It is said to resemble in no respect the eastern Towhee Finch, with which it is classed, but much more closely the group of Sparrows, so familiarly represented at the east by the White-throated, being like them in habits, song, and general aspect. It was more common among the foot-hills than on the plains. In Utah, according to Mr. Allen, this Finch begins to appear in numbers about September 20, from its breeding-haunts in the mountains.

Dr. Coues met with this species in Arizona, but only as a spring and autumn migrant. None remained there in summer to breed, and none were found there in the winter. In its migrations it passed rapidly by Fort Whipple, being found there only during the latter part of April and the beginning of May, and during the month of September. At those seasons it appeared to him the most silent and retiring of all the _Pipilos_. He found it very difficult to either observe its habits or to capture it. It winters sparingly at Fort Mohave.

Specimens of this bird were taken near Lookout Mountain by C. S. McCarthy, and at Gilmer, in Wyoming Territory, by Mr. Durkee.

Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds observed on the 32d parallel, under Lieutenant Parke, mentions first meeting with this species near Tucson. They were frequenting, in numbers, the thick undergrowth, and were seeking seeds and insects on the ground. They seemed inclined to shun observation, and always kept in the most retired situations. They were sociable among themselves, going about singly or in pairs, associated with the _Poospiza bilineata_ and two or three other kinds of Finch. When started they fly low, diving into the bushes, and soon disappear from sight. Occasionally, until reaching El Paso, Texas, birds of this species were met with, mingling with the flocks of migrating _Fringillidæ_. He there procured a pair apparently just entering upon incubation.

Instead of being suited by color, like most of the other _Pipilos_, to inhabit dark thickets and among dry leaves, this species is clad in a gayer livery, and seems well adapted for concealment in its summer resorts, and also among the growing vegetation of the lower country during the rainy season. Dr. Heermann found a few wintering in the Colorado Valley, and yet more at San Diego, but they left both places in March. He found them silent and shy, hiding very closely in the bushes, and feeding altogether on the ground. The only note he heard, resembled the crowing note of the California Quail.

Among the memoranda of Mr. Xantus, made near Fort Tejon, are the two following: “4,839, nest and two eggs (of _Pipilo chlorurus_) found in a dry hedge in Mr. Ritchie’s garden; 5,083, nest and eggs found in a dark garden-hedge.”

The eggs of the _chlorurus_ are like those of no other _Pipilo_ that I have met with. They are peculiar in shape, being nearly of an exact oval, neither end being apparently much more rounded than the other. Their ground-color is white with a bluish tint, over which is profusely diffused a cloud of fine dottings of a pinkish-drab. These markings are occasionally so fine and so thickly distributed as to give to the egg the appearance of a uniform color, or as an unspotted pinkish drab-colored egg. Occasionally the dots are deeper and larger, and more sparsely diffused.

In considering the eggs of the _Pipilos_ in general we find certain variations which deserve more than a passing notice. Those of _erythrophthalmus_, _oregonus_, _arcticus_, and _megalonyx_ are all fringilline in their characters, and have a marked affinity to eggs of _Melospiza_, _Zonotrichia_, and many other genera of this order. The eggs of _aberti_, _fuscus_, _mesoleucus_, and _albigula_ are also all closely alike, and exhibit a very close resemblance to those of the _Agelaii_, and even of the _Icteri_, while the eggs of _P. chlorurus_, though of a fringilline character, are unlike either style.

FAMILY ALAUDIDÆ.—THE LARKS.

CHAR. First primary very short or wanting. Tarsi scutellate anteriorly and posteriorly, with the plates nearly of corresponding position and number. Hind claw very long and nearly straight. Bill short, conical, frontal feathers extending along side of the bill; the nostrils concealed by a tuft of bristly feathers directed forward. Tertials greatly elongate beyond the secondaries.

Subfamilies and Genera.

Alaudinæ. Bill stout, short, and conical; nasal fossæ
transverse and completely filled by the thick tuft of
bristly feathers, and perforated anteriorly by a circular
nasal opening. (Old and New World.)

Crown with a depressed soft crest of feathers, of normal
structure; a spurious primary; tail deeply emarginate _Alauda_.

Crown without a crest, but occiput with an erectile tuft
of narrow elongated feathers on each side. No spurious
primary; tail square, or slightly rounded _Eremophila_.

Calandritinæ. Bill broader, more depressed, and straighter
at the base; nasal fossæ longitudinal, large, elongated,
the nasal opening rather linear. (Old World.)

Of the _Alaudidæ_ only the two genera diagnosed above belong to the American continent; and one of them is properly only a wanderer from the Old World, while the other is cosmopolitan.

The most characteristic feature of the Larks among other oscine families is seen in the scutellation of the tarsus. The anterior half of this is covered by divided scales lapping round on the sides, but instead of the two plates which go one on each side of the posterior half and unite ultimately behind as an acute ridge, there is but one which laps round on the sides, 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 be really but one plate divided transversely, the edges meeting at this place.

In the elongated hind claw and lengthened tertials, general style of coloration, mode of life, and manner of nesting, there is a decided approximation in the _Alaudidæ_ to the _Anthinæ_, of the family _Motacillidæ_; but in these the posterior edge of the tarsus is sharp and undivided transversely, the toes more deeply cleft, the bill more slender, etc.,—their relations being rather nearer to the _Sylvicolidæ_ than to the present family.

GENUS ALAUDA, LINN.

_Alauda_, LINN. S. N. 1735.

GEN. CHAR. Bill very small, less than half the length of the head, conical; nostrils exposed; rictal bristles quite strong; commissure without notch; tarsus much longer than middle toe; lateral toes equal; posterior toe about as long as the middle, its claw longer than the digit, and nearly straight; claws of anterior toe very small. Wing long, pointed, the third and fourth (apparently second and third) quills longest, the second and fifth successively, a little shorter; the first so small as to be almost concealed; tertials much elongated, reaching about half-way from end of secondaries to tip of primaries; their ends emarginated; tail rather deeply emarginated, and a little more than half the length of the wing.

Species.

A. arvensis. Above grayish-brown, beneath whitish, with a buffy tinge across jugulum and along sides; every feather above with a medial streak of dusky; sides of throat, sides, and across jugulum streaked with dusky; the outer tail-feathers partly white. Wing, 4.90; tail, 2.80; culmen, .40; tarsus, .80; hind claw, .50. HAB. Europe; accidental in Greenland and the Bermudas.

Alauda arvensis, LINN.

THE SKYLARK.

_Alauda arvensis_, LINN., Faun. Sue. p. 76. _Alauda vulgaris_,
LEACH, Syst. Cat. Mamm. and Birds in B. M. p. 21. _Alauda
cœlipeta_, PALL. Zoögr. I, 524. _Alauda segetum_, BREHM, Vög.
Deutschl. 318. _Alauda montana_, BREHM, Vög. Deutschl. 319, t.
20, f. 1. _Alauda agrestis_, BREHM, Vög. Deutschl. 320. _Alauda
italica_, GMEL. S. N. I, 793.

SP. CHAR. _Adult._ Above grayish umber-brown, beneath white, tinged across the breast with soft light ochraceous. Every feather above with a medial dusky streak, the shaft black; wing-feathers and upper tail-coverts bordered with white. Outer tail-feather mostly white, the next one edged with the same. A plain, light superciliary stripe; auriculars nearly uniform light brownish; sides of the throat, jugulum, and sides with short streaks of dusky brown.

_Male._ Wing, 4.90; tail, 2.80; culmen, .40; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .55; hind claw, .50.

_Young._ Above more yellowish-fulvous, the feathers with central spots, instead of medial stripes of dusky, and bordered terminally with whitish; jugulum washed strongly with ochraceous, and marked with dusky spots.

HAB. Europe; accidental in Greenland and the Bermudas; Aleutian Islands.

HABITS. The famed Skylark of the Old World can rest a twofold claim to be included in a complete list of North American birds. One of these is their occasional occurrence in the Bermudas, and in Greenland. The other is their probably successful introduction near New York.

A few years since an attempt was made to introduce these birds, for which purpose several individuals were set at liberty on Long Island. For a short time they did well, and succeeded in raising one or more broods, but, owing probably to the constant persecution of all small birds by the foreign population of the neighborhood, the experiment nearly failed, and none were noticed in that vicinity. Within the last year or two, however, several pairs of these birds have been observed in Westchester County, and also on Long Island, by parties competent to recognize them, and hopes are now entertained that these desirable birds have obtained a foothold in this country.

According to Messrs. Dresser and Sharpe, the Skylark is found throughout the polar Arctic regions, from the British Islands eastward to Siberia and Northern China. A smaller subspecies is met with in Southeastern Europe, which does not present any character by which it can be separated from it. In Eastern Europe the Lark has been found as far north as the Faroe Islands, but has not been observed in Iceland. It reaches Christiania in March, and leaves in October. It has been found breeding in Lapland as far north as latitude 65°, and is a common summer visitant in Finland. Pallas found it abundant throughout Russia and Siberia, and Steller found it not only in Kamtschatka, but equally in the Kurile Islands and in those between Asia and America, so that its occurrence in our Alaskan territories may be regarded as a not improbable event.

The same writers also state that the Skylark has been twice recorded as occurring in Greenland and in America; and in another place they state that “the Skylark occasionally visits Greenland, and has been met with in the Bermudas.” In the latter place a storm-tried waif was taken by Mr. J. M. Jones after an easterly gale.

The Lark is a universal favorite in the Old World, and as a vocalist enjoys a reputation hardly second even to the far-famed Nightingale. It is an inhabitant of all the countries of Europe, and is said to be most abundant in the cultivated districts.

We only know of its song from caged specimens and from the testimony of European writers. Yarrell speaks of its notes as cheerful and exhilarating, fresh as the season of spring, and the admiration of all hearers. Its voice is described as powerful to an extraordinary degree, and its song wild and joyous. They sing while they fly, rising, with quivering wings almost perpendicularly, until they gain so great an elevation that they can no longer be distinguished; yet, while thus no longer visible, their wild music continues to be heard as that of some unseen spirits of the air. It is said that one familiar with their song can readily determine, by their notes, whether the singer is ascending, stationary, or descending. Occasionally, when at this great elevation, the Lark will close its wings and drop to the earth with the rapidity of a stone. At times it will sing while on the ground, but its most lively strains are poured forth during these flights. And though this bird will sing while in confinement, and is a favorite cage-bird, yet in singing they are said to flutter their wings, as if this motion were almost a necessary accompaniment to their song.

In regard to the song and its peculiarities writers are not quite in agreement. The general opinion seems to be that, while in the quality of its tone it is surpassed by the song of the Nightingale, the Bulfinch, and the Black-cap, it is unequalled in quantity, sprightliness, variety, and power. The Lark is in song eight months of the year, and during the summer months it sings from two in the morning, with very little intermission, until after sunset.

Mr. Macgillivray gives an excellent and graphic description of the habits of this bird, from which we extract a portion descriptive of its song. “It has been alleged,” he writes, “that the Lark ascends in a spiral manner, but my observation does not corroborate the statement. In rising it often passes directly upward, but with the body always horizontal, or nearly so, then moves in a curve, and continues thus alternately, but without a continued spiral motion. At first, the motion of the wings is uniformly fluttering; but afterwards it shoots them out two or three times successively at intervals, and when at its greatest height exhibits this action more remarkably. When it descends, the song is not intermitted, but is continued until it approaches the ground, when it usually darts down headlong, and alights abruptly. Frequently it resumes its song after alighting, and continues it for a short time, but more commonly it stops when it has reached the ground. Often a Lark may be seen hovering over a field, in full song, for a considerable time, at a small height. On the 4th of May, 1837, I observed a Lark perched on a half-burnt whin branch, where it remained singing a long time. I have often seen it perch on a wall, and several times on a hawthorn bush in a hedge; but it never, I believe, alights on tall trees.

“The song of the Lark is certainly not musical, for its notes are not finely modulated, nor its tones mellow; but it is cheerful and cheering in the highest degree, and protracted beyond all comparison. In a sunny day in April or May, when the grass-fields have begun to resume their verdure, it is pleasant to listen to the merry songster that makes the welkin ring with its sprightly notes; in the sultry month of July, still more pleasant is it to hear its matin hymn while the dew is yet on the corn; and in winter, should you chance to hear the well-known voice on high, it reminds you of the bright days that have gone, and fills you with anticipation of those that are to come. No doubt much of the pleasure derived from the Lark’s song depends upon association, but independently of circumstances and associations the song of the Lark imparts an elasticity to the mind, elevates the spirits, and suspends for a time the gnawing of corroding care. The carol of the Lark, like the lively fife, excites pure cheerfulness. In confinement this bird sings every whit as well as when at large, and when rapidly perambulating the square bit of faded turf in its cage, it enacts its part with apparently as much delight as when mounting toward heaven’s gate.”

This bird succeeds well in cages, and lives to a great age, Yarrell mentioning one that lived nearly twenty years in confinement. Its natural food is grain, the seeds of grasses, worms, and various kinds of insects. They begin to mate in April, and have two broods in a season. Their nest is always placed on the ground, often sheltered by a tuft of grass, or some other protection. The nests are woven of coarse grasses and stems of plants, and are lined with finer materials of the same. The eggs are five in number, have a grayish-white ground, occasionally a greenish-white, very generally sprinkled and blotched with markings of dark-gray and an ashy-brown, so profusely as to conceal the ground. They are oval in shape, slightly more pointed at one end, and measure .93 of an inch in length by .70 in breadth.

According to Selby, the young of the first brood are fully fledged by the end of June, and the second in August. The Lark evinces a very strong attachment to its young, and many interesting accounts are given by European writers of its intelligent endeavors to conceal and to protect its nest,—in one instance constructing an artificial dome of dry grass, where the natural protection had been cut away by mowers, and in another attempting to remove the young to a place of greater safety.

The Lark has, in several instances, been successfully induced to mate and rear her young in an aviary; and Mr. W. P. Foster, of Hackney, is quoted by Mr. Yarrell as authority for the statement, that, during the period of producing the eggs, the female has been heard to sing with a power and a variety of tone equal to the voice of her mate.

While his mate is sitting on her eggs, the male Lark, apparently timid at all other times, is remarkably bold, and drives away other birds that venture too near their nest. He not only watches over her and seeks to protect her, but assiduously supplies her with food.

GENUS EREMOPHILA, BOIE.

_Eremophila_, BOIE, Isis, 1828, 322. (Type, _Alauda alpestris_.
Sufficiently distinct from _Eremophilus_, HUMBOLDT, [Fishes,] 1805.)
_Phileremos_, BREHM, Deutschl. Vögel, 1831.
_Otocoris_, BONAPARTE, 1839. (Type, _Alauda alpestris_, GRAY.) (We
are unable to find where the genus is named.)

GEN. CHAR. First primary wanting; bill scarcely higher than broad; nostrils circular, concealed by a dense tuft of feathers; the nasal fossæ 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 fossæ of _Alauda_ are readily distinctive.

The type of this genus is the _Alauda alpestris_, Linn., a well-known cosmopolitan species, though the birds of the New World have been distinguished under distinctive names, as _cornuta_, _chrysolæma_, _peregrina_, etc. The examination and critical comparison of more than a hundred specimens from all parts of North America, however, has convinced us of the identity with _alpestris_ of the several forms mentioned above, though it may be advisable to retain one or more of them as geographical races.

Species and Varieties.

E. alpestris. _Adult._ Above pinkish-gray, varying to
cinnamon, the pinkish deepest on nape and lesser
wing-coverts; tail black (except two middle feathers), the
outer feather edged with white. Beneath white, the sides
pinkish or grayish. A frontal band and superciliary
stripe, the middle of auriculars, chin, and throat varying
from white to deep Naples-yellow; forepart of crown, and
“ear-tufts,” a patch on lores and cheeks, and a broad
crescent across the jugulum, deep black; end of auriculars
ashy. _Female_ and autumnal males, with the pattern less
sharply defined, and the colors more suffused. _Young._
Brownish-black above, more or less mixed with clay-color,
and sprinkled with whitish dots; wing-feathers all
bordered with whitish. Beneath white. Markings on head and
jugulum just merely indicated by dusky cloudings.

Wing (of adult male), 4.20 to 4.60; tail, 2.90 to 3.16;
culmen, .60 to .65.

White frontal band, .25 to .30, wide; the black
prefrontal patch, .26 to .35 wide. The pinkish above of
an ashy-lilac shade.

Throat and forehead white, with only a very faint
tinge of yellow; pinkish tinge above more rufous.
_Hab._ Interior Northern Plains of the United States
var. _occidentalis_.

Throat and forehead pale straw-yellow, or strongly
tinged with it; pinkish tinge above varying from
ashy-lilacous to purplish-rufous. _Hab._ Northern
regions of Old and New Worlds var. _alpestris_.

Wing (adult male), 3.80 to 4.10; tail, 2.75 to 2.90;
culmen, .53 to .62.

White frontal band, .13 to .16 wide; the black
prefrontal patch, .35 to .50 wide. Pinkish above of a
deep cinnamon shade. _Hab._ Desert plains of South
Middle Province of United States, and table-lands of
Mexico, south to Bogota var. _chrysolæma_.

Eremophila alpestris, BOIE.

THE SHORE LARK.

SP. CHAR. _Adult male_; spring. A frontal crescent, curving backward in a broad, sharply defined, superciliary stripe to the occiput; chin, throat and foreneck, and a crescent across middle of ear-coverts, whitish, either more or less tinged with yellow, or pure white. Lower parts, except laterally, white. A broad crescentic patch behind the frontal whitish crescent, running back on each side of the crown and terminating in an erectile tuft of narrow elongated feathers on each side of occiput, a patch covering the lores, nasal tufts, passing beneath the eye, and forming a broad “mustache” on the cheeks, with a convex outline behind and concave anteriorly, and a broad crescentic patch across the jugulum, deep black. A crescentic spot of grayish-drab across the ends of the auriculars. Posterior portion of the crown enclosed laterally between the “ear-tufts,” occiput, nape, lateral lower parts, lesser and middle wing-coverts, and upper tail-coverts, pinkish-brown; the sides and flanks with obsolete dusky streaks. Back, scapulars, rump, wings, and two middle tail-feathers, ashy-drab, the feathers darker centrally, forming rather conspicuous broad streaks on lower part of back; middle and secondary coverts, secondaries and primaries bordered terminally, quite conspicuously, with white. Tail (except the _intermediæ_) black; outer web of lateral feather almost entirely white, that of the next edged with the same.

_Adult female_; spring. Similar, but markings rather less sharply defined; a tendency to streaking of nape and crown; these streaks often displacing the continuous black of the anterior portion of crown. The “ear-tufts” less developed.

_Winter adult._ Similar to the spring dress, but the black areas obscured, more or less, by whitish borders to the feathers; the frontal whitish band less sharply defined. Breast with numerous more or less distinct deltoid specks of plumbeous, and the pinkish of the sides much tinged with the same. The dusky streaks above are broader and more conspicuous.

_Young._ First plumage, entirely different from the adult. Above dusky, variegated with whitish dots, sprinkled over the whole surface; these specks terminal on each feather, and of a deltoid form, becoming more transverse and crescentic on the scapulars and rump; each feather of the wings broadly bordered with pale brownish, approaching white on the coverts. The blackish areas are but faintly indicated by a dusky suffusion, generally very indistinct, across the breast, and over the cheeks; and variegated with badly defined, more dusky spots; lower parts, including post-ocular stripe, dull white; sides spotted with dusky.

The _E. alpestris_, as restricted, is represented in the collection by three perfect specimens, in the several stages of plumage described; while there is also a fine specimen from Astrachan, representing a white-throated race (“var. _bei_” on MS. label) of Central Asia. The series of American specimens is all that could possibly be desired, there being numerous examples from nearly the whole northern continent, from the Arctic regions to as far south as Bogota, and from coast to coast.

The common Shore Lark of the northern parts of North America appears to be absolutely identical with the European bird, each of the specimens of the latter being easily matched from the American series. It therefore becomes necessary to reduce the name “_cornuta_” to a synonyme of _alpestris_, the former not affording characters to distinguish it as even a variety. To _alpestris_ may also be referred the form known as “_occidentalis_, McCall,” those specimens from the interior regions which are destitute of any yellow tinge on the throat. Were this feature a constant one in specimens from the region which it characterizes, it would be, of course, right to retain the name in the form of _alpestris_ var. _occidentalis_. As it is, however, quite a large percentage of the specimens from every locality where _occidentalis_ is found have more or less yellow throats, but it is possible that this mixture of the two may be the result of irregular migrations, those yellow-throated individuals being stragglers from their breeding habitat,—more to the eastward and northward. In its white instead of straw-yellow throat, and more lilaceous than vinaceous upper parts, this form bears a close resemblance to a race of the deserts of Western (and Central?) Asia,—the “_bei_”[26]; the latter, however, has these features more exaggerated than in the one of the central plains of North America. Breeding throughout the table-lands of Mexico, and in the Western Province of the United States, north to about the 40th parallel, is a more strongly marked race, maintaining also more constancy in its peculiar features; this race is the _E. chrysolæma_, Wagl., of which name _rufa_, Aud., and _minor_, Giraud, are synonymes. This race, which we propose to call _E. alpestris_ var. _chrysolæma_, differs from both the northern styles in smaller size and longer bill, and in coloration is the opposite extreme from _occidentalis_, having the vinaceous tints deeper and browner, instead of paler and less brown, than in _cornuta_ (i. e. typical _alpestris_). The black markings are also more extended, in proportion to the other colors, reducing the white on the forehead to a very narrow band, instead of a broad spot equalling, or exceeding, the black in width. Specimens from Bogota—about the southern limit of the genus on this continent—are, perhaps, referrible to _chrysolæma_, or at least not very different from it, though described by Sclater as distinct, under the name _peregrinus_.[27]

In fewer words, the variations, with the region, are about as follows. Starting with North America, north of the United States, we begin with a style absolutely undistinguishable from that of Europe; this, to which the name _cornuta_ belongs, visits the Eastern States only in winter, but breeds over the prairie region of Wisconsin, Illinois, and westward. West of the Rocky Mountains, especially south of about 40°, specimens referrible to this style are most numerous in winter, and in a large series a great percentage of the specimens entirely lack any yellow on the throat, while the pinkish-brown tints are lighter and less reddish; this style represents, in these peculiar features, the “var. _bei_” of Western Asia (Astrachan), and has been distinguished by the name _occidentalis_, McCall, though it is doubtful whether McCall’s description is of a specimen of this style or of one of _chrysolæma_, being taken from a young or immature bird. Breeding south of about 40°, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast, and throughout the table-lands of Mexico,—in winter sometimes resident at the northern limit assigned, and there mixed with northern-bred individuals,—is a kind which is smaller, and, generally, with a larger bill; the throat is deeper yellow than in the northern form, the pinkish tints deepened into cinnamon, and the frontal band narrower, caused by an encroachment of the black, which, in its several areas, is extended more in proportion to the other colors. This is the _E. chrysolæma_ of Wagl., and of which _minor_, Giraud, and _rufa_, Aud., are synonymes, as already stated.

Along the coast of Oregon and Washington Territory is a very peculiar race, represented in the collection by several specimens. These differ essentially in having the dark streaks above very sharply defined, broad and clear blackish-brown,[28] while the lower parts are strongly tinged with yellow, even as deeply so as the throat. Additional specimens from the northwest coast may establish the existence of a race as distinct as any of those named above.

[26] The name in manuscript on the label of a specimen in
the Schlüter collection, from Astrachan.

[27] _Otocorys peregrina_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1855, 110, pl.
cii. _Eremophila per._ SCL. Cat. Am. Birds, 1862, 127.

[28] A specimen from Cleveland, Ohio (7,429 ♀, April 1, Dr.
Kirtland), and one from Washington, D. C. (28,246 ♂, Feb.),
have nearly as distinct streaks above, but the white of
lower parts is without any tinge of yellow.

Var. alpestris.

_Alauda alpestris_, LINN. S. N. I, 289.—FORST. Phil. Trans. LXII,
1772, 383.—WILSON,—AUD.—JARD.—MAYNARD, B. E. Mass. 1870,
121. _Otocorys a._ FINSCH, Abh. Nat. 1870, 341 (synonomy and
remarks). _Alauda cornuta_, WILS. Am. Orn. I, 1808, 85.—RICH.
F. B. A. II. _Eremophila c._ BOIE, Isis, 1828, 322.—BAIRD,
Birds N. Am. 1858, 403.—LORD, P. R. A. Inst. IV, 118 (British
Col.).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, XII, 195.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch.
Ac. I, 1869, 218 (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870,
251.—SAMUELS, 280. _Phileremos c._ BONAP. List, 1838.
_Otocoris c._ AUCT. _Otocoris occidentalis_, MCCALL, Pr. A. N.
Sc. V, June, 1851, 218 (Santa Fé).—BAIRD, Stansbury’s Rep.,
1852, 318.

CHAR. _Adult._ Frontal whitish crescent more than half as broad as the black patch behind it. Throat and forehead either tinged, more or less strongly, with yellow, or perfectly white. Pinkish tint above, a soft ashy-vinaceous.

_Measurements._ (56,583 ♂, North Europe,) wing, 4.40; tail, 2.90; culmen, .60; width of white frontal crescent, .25; of black, .30. (3,780 ♂, Wisconsin,) wing, 4.20; tail, 3.00; culmen, .60; width of white frontal crescent, .30; of black, .26. (16,768 ♂, Hudson’s Bay Ter.,) wing, 4.55; tail, 3.10; culmen, .65; width of white frontal crescent, .35; of black, .36. (8,491 ♂, Fort Massachusetts,) wing, 4.35; tail, 3.15; culmen, .61; width of white frontal crescent, .27; of black, 27. (The three perfectly identical in colors.)

_Young._ On the upper parts the blackish greatly in excess of the whitish markings. Spots across jugulum distinct.

HAB. Northern Hemisphere; in North America, breeding in the Arctic regions and the open plains of the interior regions, from Illinois, Wisconsin, etc., to the Pacific, north of about 38°.

Var. chrysolæma.

_Alauda chrysolæma_, WAGL. Isis, 1831, 350.—BONAP. P. Z. S. 1837,
111. _Otocorys ch._ FINSCH, Abh. Nat. 1870, 341. _Alauda
minor_, GIRAUD, 16 Sp. Tex. B. 1841. _Alauda rufa_, AUD. Birds
Am. VII, 1843, 353, pl. ccccxcvii. _Otocoris r._, HEERM. X. s,
45. _? Otocorys peregrina_, SCL. P. Z. S. 1855, 110, pl. cii.
_Eremophila p._, SCL. Cat. Am. B. 1860, 127.

CHAR. _Adult._ Frontal crescent less than half as wide as the black. Throat and forehead deep straw-yellow; pinkish tints above deep cinnamon.

_a._ Specimens from California and Mexico, streaks on back, etc., very obsolete; darker central stripe to middle tail-feathers scarcely observable; white beneath.

_Measurements._
(3,507, ♂, Tonila, Mexico,) wing, 3.80; tail, 2.75; bill, .53—.15—.42.
(9,115, ♂, Mexico,) ” 4.10; ” 2.90; ” .63—.13—.50.
(3,939, ♂, California,) ” 3.85; ” 2.75; ” .56—.14—.45.
(58,582, ♂, Gt. Salt Lake City,) ” 4.10; ” 2.80; ” .62—.16—.32.

_b._ Specimens from coast of Oregon and Washington Territory. Streaks on back, etc., very conspicuous; dark central stripe of tail-feathers distinct; yellow beneath.

_Measurements._
(8,734 ♂, Fort Steilacoom,) wing, 3.75; tail, 2.60; bill, .61—.15—.40.

HAB. Middle America, from the desert regions of the southern Middle Province of North America, south to Bogota.

HABITS. Assuming the Shore Lark of the Labrador coast and the rufous Lark of the Western prairies to be one and the same species, but slightly modified by differences of locality, climate, or food, we have for this species, at all times, a wide range, and, during the breeding-season, a very unusual peculiarity,—their abundant distribution through two widely distant and essentially different regions.

During a large portion of the year, or from October to April, these birds may be found in all parts of the United States. Dr. Woodhouse found them very common throughout Texas, the Indian Territory, New Mexico, and California. Mr. Dresser states that he found the western variety—which he thinks essentially different in several respects from the eastern—in great numbers, from October to the end of March, in the prairies around San Antonio. Afterwards, at Galveston, in May and June, 1864, he noticed and shot several specimens. Although he did not succeed in finding any nests, he was very sure that they were breeding there. It is common, during winter, on the Atlantic coast, from Massachusetts to South Carolina. In Maine it is comparatively rare. In Arizona, Dr. Coues speaks of the western form as a permanent resident in all situations adapted to its wants. The same writer, who also had an opportunity of observing the eastern variety in Labrador, where he found it very abundant on all the moss-covered islands around the coast, could notice nothing in their voice, flight, or general manners, different from their usual habits in their southern migrations, except that during the breeding-season they do not associate in flocks.

Richardson states that this Lark arrives in the fur countries in company with the Lapland Bunting, with which it associates, and, being a shyer bird, would act as sentinel and give the alarm on the approach of danger. As Mr. Dall only obtained a single skin on the Yukon, it probably is not common there. Dr. Suckley states it to be a very abundant summer resident on the gravelly prairies near Fort Steilacoom, in Washington Territory. He describes it as a tame, unsuspicious bird, allowing a man to approach within a few feet of it. It is essentially a ground bird, rarely alighting on bushes or shrubs.

Dr. Cooper adds to this that the Shore Lark is common in the interior, but he only noticed one on the coast border. In ordinary seasons they seem to be permanent residents, and in winter to be both more gregarious and more common. He met with one as late as July 1, on a gravelly plain near Olympia, scratching out a hollow for its nest under a tussock of grass.

Dr. Cooper also found these birds around Fort Mohave in considerable flocks about the end of February, but all had left the valley by the end of March. About May 29 he found numbers of them towards the summits of the Providence range of mountains, west of the valley, and not far from four thousand feet above it, where they probably had nests. They were also common in July on the cooler plains towards the ocean, so that they doubtless breed in many of the southern portions of California, as well as at Puget Sound and on the Great Plains. Dr. Cooper states that in May or June the males rise almost perpendicularly into the air, until almost out of sight, and fly around in an irregular circle, singing a sweet and varied song for several minutes, when they descend nearly to the spot from which they started. Their nests were usually found in a small depression of the ground, often under a tuft of grass or a bush. Mr. Nuttall started a Shore Lark from her nest, on the plains, near the banks of the Platte. It was in a small depression on the ground, and was made of bent grass, and lined with coarse bison-hair. The eggs were olive-white, minutely spotted all over with a darker tinge.

According to Audubon, these Larks breed abundantly on the high and desolate granite tracts that abound along the coast of Labrador. These rocks are covered with large patches of mosses and lichens. In the midst of these this bird places her nest, disposed with so much care, and the moss so much resembling the bird in hue, that the nests are not readily noticed. When flushed from her nest, she flutters away, feigning lameness so cunningly as to deceive almost any one not on his guard. The male at once joins her, and both utter the most soft and plaintive notes of woe. The nest is embedded in the moss to its edges, and is composed of fine grasses, circularly disposed and forming a bed about two inches thick. It is lined with the feathers of the grouse and of other birds. The eggs, deposited early in July, are four or five in number, and are described by Mr. Audubon as marked with bluish as well as brown spots.

About a week before they can fly, the young leave the nest, and follow their parents over these beds of mosses to be fed. They run nimbly, and squat closely at the first approach of danger. If observed and pursued, they open their wings and flutter off with great celerity.

These birds reach Labrador early in June, when the male birds are very pugnacious, and engage frequently in very singular fights, in which often several others besides the first parties join, fluttering, biting, and tumbling over in the manner of the European House Sparrow. The male is described as singing sweetly while on the wing, but its song is comparatively short. It will also sing while on the ground, but less frequently, and with less fulness. Its call-note is quite mellow, and is at times so altered, in a ventriloquial manner, as to seem like that of another bird. As soon as the young are hatched their song ceases. It is said to feed on grass-seeds, the blossoms of small plants, and insects, often catching the latter on the wing, and following them to a considerable distance. It also gathers minute crustaceans on the sea-shore.

Mr. Ridgway found this species abundant over the arid wastes of the interior, and, in many localities, it was almost the only bird to be found. In its habits he could observe no differences between this bird and the _alpestris_. He met with their nests and eggs in the Truckee Reservation, June 3. The nest was embedded in the hard, grassy ground, beneath a small scraggy sage-bush, on the _mesa_, between the river and the mountains.

Mr. J. K. Lord mentions that, having encamped at Cedar Springs on the Great Plains of the Columbia, where the small stream was the only water within a long distance, he became interested in watching the movements of these Larks. As evening approached they came boldly in among the mules and men, intense thirst overcoming all sense of fear. He found these handsome little birds very plentiful throughout British Columbia. They were nesting very early on those sandy plains, even before the snow had left the ground. He saw young fledglings early in May.

A single specimen of this species was taken at Godhaab, Greenland, in October, 1835.

Eggs from Labrador are much larger in size than those from Wisconsin. Two eggs from the first, one obtained by Mr. Thienemann, the other by Mr. George Peck, of Burlington, Vt., measure .93 and .94 of an inch in length by .71 in breadth; while some from the West are only .83 in length and .63 in breadth, their greatest length being .90, and their largest breadth .69 of an inch. In their ground-color and markings, eggs from both localities vary about alike. The ground-color varies from a purplish-white to a dark gray, while the spots are in some a brownish-lavender, in others a brown, and, quite frequently, an olive-brown. In some they are in larger, scattered blotches; while in others they are in very fine minute dots so thickly and so uniformly diffused as almost to conceal the ground.

FAMILY ICTERIDÆ.—THE ORIOLES.

CHAR. Primaries nine. Tarsi scutellate anteriorly; plated behind. Bill long, generally equal to the head or longer, straight or gently curved, conical, without any notch, the commissure bending downwards at an obtuse angle at the base. Gonys generally more than half the culmen, no bristles about the base of bill. Basal joint of the middle toe free on the inner side; united half-way on the outer. Tail rather long, rounded. Legs stout.

This family is strictly confined to the New World, and is closely related in many of its members to the _Fringillidæ_. Both have the angulated commissure and the nine primaries; the bill is, however, usually much longer; the rictus is completely without bristles, and the tip of the bill without notch.

The affinities of some of the genera are still closer to the family of _Sturnidæ_ or Starlings, of which the _Sturnus vulgaris_ may be taken as the type. The latter family, is, however, exclusively Old World, except for the occurrence of a species in Greenland, and readily distinguished by the constant presence of a rudimentary outer primary, making ten in all.

There are three subfamilies of the _Icteridæ_,—the _Agelainæ_, the _Icterinæ_, and the _Quiscalinæ_,[29] which may be diagnosed as follows, although it is difficult to define them with precision:—

Agelainæ. Bill shorter than, or about equal to, the head; thick, conical, both mandibles about equal in depth; the outlines all more or less straight, the bill not decurved at tip. Tail rather short, nearly even or slightly rounded. Legs longer than the head, adapted for walking; claws moderately curved.

Icterinæ. Bill rather slender, about as long as the head; either straight or decurved. Lower mandible less thick than the upper; the commissure not sinuated. Tarsi not longer than the head, nor than middle toe; legs adapted for perching. Claws much curved.

Quiscalinæ. Tail lengthened, considerably or excessively graduated. Bill as long as, or longer than, the head; the culmen curved towards the end, the tip bent down, the cutting edges inflexed, the commissure sinuated. Legs longer than the head, fitted for walking.

[29] It is an interesting fact in regard to the species of
_Icteridæ_, that, as a general rule, female birds of West
Indian representatives of the _Agelainæ_ and _Quiscalinæ_
are usually, or perhaps universally, uniformly black, where
the continental are brown, either concolored or streaked. We
know of no exception to the first part of this statement as
to _Agelaius_, _Nesopsar_, _Scolecophagus_, and _Quiscalus_.
The smaller North American species of _Quiscalus_ have the
females duller, but not otherwise very different from the
males, except in size. The females of the large _Quiscalus_,
all continental, are much smaller than the males, and
totally different. In _Icterus_ all the species in which the
female is very different in color from the male are Northern
Mexican or continental North American (_pustulatus_,
_spurius_, _baltimore_, _bullocki_, _cucullatus_, etc.).
Most West Indian _Icterus_ also exhibit no difference in the
sexes, _dominicensis_, _hypomelas_, _xanthomus_, _bonanæ_,
etc.; in one alone (_leucopteryx_) is the difference
appreciable. The South American species have the females
pretty generally similar to the males, but smaller, as is
the case in the entire family.

SUBFAMILY AGELAINÆ.

CHAR. Bill stout, conical, and acutely pointed, not longer than the head; the outlines nearly straight, the tip not decurved. Legs adapted for walking, longer than the head. Claws not much curved. Tail moderate, shorter than the wings; nearly even.

The _Agelainæ_, through _Molothrus_ and _Dolichonyx_, present a close relation to the _Fringillidæ_ in the comparative shortness and conical shape of the bill, and, in fact, it is very difficult to express in brief words the distinctions which evidently exist. _Dolichonyx_ may be set aside as readily determinate by the character of the feet and tail. The peculiar subfamily characteristics of _Molothrus_ will be found under the generic remarks respecting it.

The following diagnosis will serve to define the genera:—

A. Bill shorter than the head. Feathers of head and
nostrils as in B.

Dolichonyx. Tail-feathers with rigid stiffened acuminate
points. Middle toe very long, exceeding the head.

Molothrus. Tail with the feathers simple; middle toe
shorter than the tarsus or head.

B. Bill as long as the head. Feathers of crown soft.
Nostrils covered by a scale which is directed more or less
downwards.

Agelaius. First quill shorter than the second and third.
Outer lateral claws scarcely reaching to the base of
middle; claws moderate.

Xanthocephalus. First quill longest. Outer lateral claw
reaching nearly to the tip of the middle. Toes and claws
all much elongated.

C. Bill as long as, or longer than, the head. Feathers of
crown with the shafts prolonged into stiffened bristles.
Nostrils covered by a scale which stands out more or less
horizontally.

Sturnella. Tail-feathers acute. Middle toe equal to the
tarsus.

Trupialis. Tail-feathers rounded. Middle toe shorter
than the tarsus.

GENUS DOLICHONYX, SWAINSON.

_Dolichonyx_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Journ. III, 1827, 351. (Type,
_Emberiza oryzivora_, L.)

[Line drawing: _Dolichonyx oryzivorus._
977]

GEN. CHAR. Bill short, stout, conical, little more than half the head; the commissure slightly sinuated; the culmen nearly straight. Middle toe considerably longer than the tarsus (which is about as long as the head); the inner lateral toe longest, but not reaching the base of the middle claw. Wings long, first quill longest. Tail-feathers acuminately pointed at the tip, with the shaft stiffened and rigid, as in the Woodpeckers.

The peculiar characteristic of this genus is found in the rigid scansorial tail and the very long middle toe, by means of which it is enabled to grasp the vertical stems of reeds or other slender plants. The color of the single species is black, varied with whitish patches on the upper parts.

Dolichonyx oryzivorus, SWAINSON.

BOBOLINK; REEDBIRD; RICEBIRD.

_Emberiza oryzivora_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 311.—GM. I, 1788,
850.—WILSON, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 48, pl. xii, f. 1, 2.
_Passerina oryzivora_, VIEILLOT, Nouv. Dict. XXV, 1817, 3.
_Dolichonyx oryzivora_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827,
351.—IB. F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 278.—BON. List, 1838.—IB.
Conspectus, 1850, 437.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 139.—IB. Birds Am. IV,
1842, 10, pl. ccxi.—GOSSE, Birds Jam. 1847, 229.—BAIRD, Birds
N. Am. 1858, 522.—MAX. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 266.—COOPER, Orn.
Cal. I, 1870, 255.—SAMUELS, 335. _Icterus agripennis_, BONAP.
Obs. Wils. 1824, No. 87. AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 283; V, 1839,
486, pl. liv.—NUTT. Man. I, 1832, 185. _Icterus (Emberizoides)
agripennis_, BON. Syn. 1828, 53. _Dolichonyx agripennis_, RICH.
List, 1837. _Psarocolius caudacutus_, WAGLER, Syst. Av. 1827,
32.

SP. CHAR. General color of _male_ in spring, black; the nape brownish cream-color; a patch on the side of the breast, the scapulars, and rump, white, shading into light ash on the upper tail-coverts and the back below the interscapular region. The outer primaries sharply margined with yellowish-white; the tertials less abruptly; the tail-feathers margined at the tips with pale brownish-ash. In autumn totally different, resembling the female.

_Female_, yellowish beneath; two stripes on the top of the head, and the upper parts throughout, except the back of the neck and rump, and including all the wing-feathers generally, dark brown, all edged with brownish-yellow, which becomes whiter near the tips of the quills. The sides sparsely streaked with dark brown, and a similar stripe behind the eye. There is a superciliary and a median band of yellow on the head. Length of male, 7.70; wing, 3.83; tail, 3.15.

HAB. Eastern United States to the high Central Plains. North to Selkirk Settlement, and Ottawa, Canada; and west to Salt Lake Valley, Utah, and Ruby Valley, Nevada (RIDGWAY); Cuba, winter (CABAN.); Bahamas (BRYANT); Jamaica (GOSSE, SCL., Oct.; MARCH, Oct., and in spring); James Island, Galapagos, Oct. (GOULD); Sombrero, W. I. (LAWRENCE); Brazil (PELZELN); Yucatan.

A female bird from Paraguay (Dec., 1859) is undistinguishable from the average of northern ones, except by the smaller size. Specimens from the western plains differ from those taken near the Atlantic Coast in having the light areas above paler, and less obscured by the grayish wash so prevalent in the latter; the ochraceous of the nape being very pale, and at the same time pure.

HABITS. The well-known and familiar Bobolink of North America has, at different seasons of the year, a remarkably extended distribution. In its migrations it traverses all of the United States east of the high central plains to the Atlantic as far to the north as the 54th parallel, which is believed to be its most northern limit, and which it reaches in June. In the winter it reaches, in its wandering, the West Indies, Central America, the northern and even the central portions of South America. Von Pelzeln obtained Brazilian specimens from Matogrosso and Rio Madeira in November, and from Marabitanas, April 4th and 13th. Those procured in April were in their summer or breeding plumage, suggesting the possibility of their breeding in the high grounds of South America. Sclater received specimens from Santa Marta and from Bolivia. Other specimens have been reported as coming from Rio Negro, Rio Napo, in Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, Porto Rico, Paraguay, Buenos Ayres, etc.

In North America it breeds from the 42d to the 54th parallel, and in some parts of the country it is very abundant at this season. The most southern breeding locality hitherto recorded is the forks of the Susquehanna River, along the west branch of which, especially in the Wyoming Valley, it was formerly very abundant.