GENUS 41. ALAUDA. LARK.

SPECIES 1. A. MAGNA.*

MEADOW LARK.

[Plate XIX.-Fig. 2.]

LINN. Syst. 289.-Crescent Stare, Arct. Zool. 330. No. 192.—LATHAM, III, 6. Var. A.-Le Fer-a-cheval, ou Merle a Collier d'Amerique, BUFF. III, p. 371.--CATESB. Car. 1, pl. 33.--BARTRAM, p. 290.--PEALE's Museum, No. 5212.

THOUGH this well-known species cannot boast of the powers of song which distinguish that "harbinger of day," the Sky Lark of Europe, yet in richness of plumage, as well as in sweetness of voice (as far as his few notes extend), he stands eminently its superior. He differs from the greater part of his tribe in wanting the long straight hind claw, which is probably the reason why he has been classed, by some late naturalists, with the Starlings. But in the particular form of his bill, in his manners, plumage, mode and place of building his nest, nature has clearly pointed out his proper family.

This species has a very extensive range; having myself found them in Upper Canada, and in each of the states from New Hampshire to New Orleans. Mr. Bartram also informs me that they are equally abundant in East Florida. Their favourite places of retreat are pasture fields and meadows, particularly the latter, which have conferred on them their specific name; and no

* Alauda magna, LINN. Syst. 1, p. 167. Ed. 10.-GMEL. Syst. 1, p. 801.Merula Americana torquata, BRISS. Av. 11, p. 242. No. 15.-(Summer dress.) Sturnus ludovicianus, LINN. Syst. 1, p. 290.-GMEL. Syst. 1, p. 802.-BRISSON, 11, p. 449. 4. l. 42. f. 1.—LATH. Ind. Orn. 1, 323.-Etourneau de la Louisiane. BUFF. 111, p. 192.--Pl. Enl. 256.--(winter plumage.)

doubt supplies them abundantly with the particular seeds and insects on which they feed. They are rarely or never seen in the depth of the woods; unless where, instead of underwood, the ground is covered with rich grass, as in the Chactaw and Chickasaw countries, where I met with them in considerable numbers in the months of May and June. The extensive and luxuriant prairies between Vincennes and St. Louis also abound with them.

It is probable that in the more rigorous regions of the north they may be birds of passage, as they are partially so here; though I have seen them among the meadows of New Jersey, and those that border the rivers Delaware and Schuylkill, in all seasons; even when the ground was deeply covered with snow. There is scarcely a market day in Philadelphia, from September to March, but they may be found in market. They are generally considered, for size and delicacy, little inferior to the quail, or what is here usually called the partridge, and valued accordingly. I once met with a few of these birds in the month of February, during a deep snow, among the heights of the Alleghany between Shippensburgh and Somerset, gleaning on the road, in company with the small snow-birds. In the state of South Carolina and Georgia, at the same season of the year, they swarm among the rice plantations, running about the yards and out-houses, accompanied by the Kildeers, with little appearance of fear, as if quite domesticated.

These birds, after the building season is over, collect in flocks; but seldom fly in a close compact body; their flight is something in the manner of the grous and partridge, laborious and steady; sailing, and renewing the rapid action of the wings alternately. When they alight on trees or bushes, it is generally on the tops of the highest branches, whence they send forth a long, clear, and somewhat melancholy note, that in sweetness and tenderness of expression is not surpassed by any of our numerous warblers. This is sometimes followed by a kind of low, rapid chattering, the particular call of the female; and again the clear and plaintive strain is repeated as before. They afford tolerable good

amusement to the sportsman, being most easily shot while on wing; as they frequently squat among the long grass, and spring within gunshot. The nest of this species is built generally in, or below, a thick tuft or tussock of grass; it is composed of dry grass, and fine bent laid at bottom, and wound all around, leaving an arched entrance level with the ground; the inside is lined with fine stalks of the same materials, disposed with great regularity. The eggs are four, sometimes five, white, marked with specks and several large blotches of reddish brown, chiefly at the thick end. Their food consists of caterpillars, grub worms, beetles, and grass seeds; with a considerable proportion of gravel. Their general name is the Meadow Lark; among the Virgi nians they are usually called the Old field Lark.

The length of this bird is ten inches and a half, extent sixteen and a half; throat, breast, belly, and line from the eye to the nostrils, rich yellow; inside lining and edge of the wing the same; an oblong crescent of deep velvetty black ornaments the lower part of the throat; lesser wing-coverts black, broadly bordered with pale ash; rest of the wing feathers light brown, handsomely serrated with black; a line of yellowish white divides the crown, bounded on each side by a stripe of black intermixed with bay, and another line of yellowish white passes over each eye backwards; cheeks bluish white, back and rest of the upper parts beautifully variegated with black, bright bay, and pale ochre: tail wedged, the feathers neatly pointed, the four outer ones on each side, nearly all white; sides, thighs, and vent pale yellow ochre, streaked with black; upper mandible brown, lower bluish white; eyelids furnished with strong black hairs; legs and feet very large, and of a pale flesh colour.

The female has the black crescent more skirted with gray, and not of so deep a black. In the rest of her markings the plumage differs little from that of the male. I must here take notice of a mistake committed by Mr. Edwards in his History of Birds, Vol. VI, p. 123, where, on the authority of a bird dealer of London, he describes the Calandre Lark (a native of Italy and Russia) as belonging also to N. America, and having been

brought from Carolina. I can say with confidence, that in all my excursions through that and the rest of the southern states, I never met such a bird, nor any person who had ever seen it. I have no hesitation in believing that the Calandre is not a native of the United States.

SPECIES 2. ALAUDA ALPESTRIS.*

SHORE LARK.

[Plate V.-Fig. 4.]

Alauda alpestris, LINN. Syst. 289.-LATH. Syn. 11, S85.-Alauda campestris gutture flavo, BARTRAM, p. 290.-L'Alouette de Virginie, BUFF. v, 55.-CATESB. 1, 32-PEALE's Museum, No. 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 numerous in the southern states, as far as Georgia, during that season. 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 numerous instances, quantities of the eggs or larvæ of certain insects, mixed with a kind of slimy earth. About the middle of March they generally disappear, on their route to the north. Forster

Of the three species referred by Wilson to Alauda this is the only one which belongs to that genus, as restricted by modern ornithologists.

We add the following synonymes:-Alauda alpestris, LINN. Ed. 10. Syst. 1, p. 166.-GMEL. Syst. 1, p. 800.-LATH. Ind. Orn. 11, p. 498.—Alauda flava, GMEL. Syst. 1, p. 800, (adult male in breeding dress).—Alauda Virginiana, BRISS. III, p. 367, 12.-Alouette de Siberie, BUFF. Pl. Enl, 650, fig. 2.