Page 297 LARKS. Family ALAUDIDÆ Horned Lark. 473. Skylark. Alauda arvensis. Range.--Old World, straggling casually to Greenland and Bermuda. Grayish. This noted foreigner has been imported and liberated a number of times in this country, but apparently is not able to thrive here, a fact which will not cause much regret when we remember the experiment with the English Sparrow. They are abundant in Europe and Great Britain where they nest on the ground in cultivated fields or meadows, laying from three to five grayish eggs, marked with brown, drab and lavender. 474. Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris alpestris. Range.--Eastern North America, breeding in Labrador and about Hudson Bay; winters in eastern United States south to Carolina. This variety of this much sub-divided species is 7.5 inches in length, has brownish gray upper parts and is white below with black patches on the breast and below the eye, yellowish throat and small black ear tufts. The various subspecies are all marked alike, their distinction being based upon slight differences in size, variations in the shade of the back, or the greater or less intensity of the yellowish throat and superciliary stripe. The nesting habits of all the varieties are the same and the eggs differ only in the shade of the ground color, this variation among the eggs of the same variety being so great that an egg cannot be identified without knowing the locality in which it was taken. The present variety build their nests on the ground generally under tufts of grass or in hollows in the moss which is found in their breeding range, making them of dried grasses and generally lining them with feathers. The eggs are grayish with a slight greenish tinge, and are specked and spotted over the whole surface with drab, brownish and dark lavender. The eggs of this and the next variety average considerably larger than those of the more southerly distributed varieties; size .92 × .65. 474a. Pallid Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris arcticola. Range.--Breeds in Alaska and winters south to Oregon and Montana. This is the largest of the Horned Larks and has the throat white, with no trace of yellow. Its nest is built in similar locations and the eggs are like those of the preceding species.




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 474c--474e--474f. 474b. Prairie Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris praticola. Range.--Breeds in the Mississippi Valley from Illinois north to Manitoba and east to the Middle States; winters south to Carolina and Texas. Olive buff. This sub-species is considerably smaller than the Horned Lark, and the throat is paler yellow, while the line over the eye and the forehead is white. They are the most abundant and have the most extended range of any of the better known species. In the Mississippi Valley, where they are of the most common of the nesting birds, they build on the ground in meadows or cultivated fields, and very often in cornfields; the nests are made of grasses and lined with horse hairs or feathers, and placed in slight hollows generally under a tuft of grass or sods. They raise two broods a season and sometimes three, laying the first set of eggs in March and another in June or July. The three or four eggs have an olive buff ground and are thickly sprinkled with drab and lavender; size .83 × .60. 474c. Desert Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris leucolæma. Range.--Plains of western United States, east of the Rockies and west of Kansas and Dakota; breeds north to Alberta, and winters south to Mexico, Texas and southern California. This species is like praticola, but paler on the back; nest and eggs the same. 474d. Texas Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris giraudi. Range.--Coast of southeastern Texas. A pale variety like leucolæma, but smaller; throat bright yellow, and breast tinged with yellow. Nest and eggs like those of the others. 474e. California Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris actia. Range.--Lower California and southern California. This bird is similar to the last but the yellow areas are brighter, and the nape and back are ruddy. Olive buff. 474f. Ruddy Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris rubea. Ranges--Sacramento Valley, California. This variety has the yellow areas brighter than in any other and the back and nape are more ruddy. The eggs cannot be distinguished from those of the others.
Page 299 474g. Streaked Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris strigata. Range.--Northwestern United States (Washington, Oregon and northern California). Similar to the last, but with the back broadly streaked with black, the ruddy less intense and the underparts tinged with yellowish. 474h. Scorched Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris adusta. Range.--Western Mexico, north in summer to southern Arizona. This variety has the back and nape nearly a uniform pinkish ruddy with but little streaking. 474i. Dusky Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris merrilli. Range.--Northwestern United States and southern British Columbia, wintering south to central California. Similar to praticola but slightly darker above. 474j. Sonora Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris pallida. Range.--Gulf coast of northern Lower California. The upperparts of this variety are very pale pinkish brown. 474k. Hoyt's Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris hoyti. Range.--Interior of British America, west of Hudson Bay and east of Alaska, south in winter in the interior of the United States to Kansas. Much larger than the last; equal in size and similar to articola but with the throat yellowish and the upperparts darker and brighter. 474l. Montezuma Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris occidentalis. Range.--Western New Mexico and eastern Arizona, south in winter to northern Mexico. This variety has the upperparts pale brownish and not streaked; throat and forehead yellowish. 474m. Island Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris insularis. Range.--Santa Barbara Islands, California. Similar to strigata but darker. With the exception of the three large varieties of Horned Larks found north of our borders, neither the eggs nor, in most cases, the birds can be identified without the precise location where they were taken.





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 CROWS, JAYS, MAGPIES, ETC. Family CORVIDÆ. Magpie. 475. Magpie. Pica pica hudsonia. Range.--Western North America from the Great Plains to the Pacific and from Alaska to Arizona and New Mexico. Grayish white. These large handsome birds have the entire head, neck and breast velvety black, abruptly defined against the white underparts. The back, wings and tail are greenish or bluish black, and the scapulars, white; length of bird 20 inches. They are well known throughout the west, where their bold and thievish habits always excite comment. They nest in bushes and trees at low elevations from the ground, making a very large nest of sticks, with an opening on the side, and the interior is made of weeds and mud, lined with fine grasses; these nests often reach a diameter of three feet and are made of quite large sticks. During April or May, they lay from four to eight grayish white eggs, plentifully spotted with brown and drab. Size 1.25 x .90. Grayish white. 476. Yellow-billed Magpie. Pica nuttalli. Range.--Middle parts of California, west of the Sierra Nevadas. This species is slightly smaller than the last and has a yellowish bill and lores, otherwise being precisely like the more common species. Their habits do not differ from those of the other, the nests are the same and the eggs are indistinguishable. Size 1.25 x .88.
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NEST OF AMERICAN MAGPIE.
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YOUNG BLUE JAYS.
Page 303 Blue Jay. 477. Blue Jay. Cyanocitta cristata cristata. Range.--North America, east of the Plains and north to Hudson Bay; resident and very abundant in its United States range. Greenish buff. These beautiful and bold marauders are too well known to need description, suffice it to say that they are the most beautiful of North American Jays; but beneath their handsome plumage beats a heart as cruel and cunning as that in any bird of prey. In the fall, winter and spring, their food consists largely of acorns, chestnuts, berries, seeds, grain, insects, lizards, etc., but during the summer months they destroy and devour a great many eggs and young of the smaller birds, their taste for which, being so great that they are known to watch a nest until the full complement of eggs is laid before making their theft. They nest in open woods or clumps of trees, indifferently, in pines or young trees, building most often below twenty feet from the ground; the nests are made of twigs and rootlets, lined with fine rootlets. During May they lay from four to six eggs of a greenish buff color spotted with olive brown. Size 1.10 x .80. 477a. Florida Blue Jay. Cyanocitta cristata florincola. Range.--Florida and the Gulf coast. The nesting habits and eggs of this smaller sub-species are the same as those of the northern Blue Jay. Like our birds, they frequently nest near habitations. 478. Steller's Jay. Cyanocitta stelleri stelleri. Range.--Pacific coast from southern California to Alaska; resident and breeding throughout its range. Greenish blue. All the members of this sub-species are similar in plumage, having a sooty black head, crest and neck, shading insensibly into dark bluish on the back and underparts, and brighter blue on the wings and tail. They usually have a few streaks or spots of pale blue on the forehead. They are just as noisy, bold and thievish as the eastern Jay and are also excellent mimics like the latter. They nest in fir trees at any height from the ground and in April or May deposit their three to six greenish blue eggs which are spotted with various shades of brown. Size 1.25 x .90. Their nests are more bulky than those of the eastern Jay and are usually made of larger sticks and held together with some mud. 478a. Blue-fronted Jay. Cyanocitta stelleri frontalis. Range.--Coast ranges of California and Oregon. The nesting habits and eggs of this variety are indistinguishable from those of the preceding. The bird has more blue on the forehead. 478b. Long-crested Jay. Cyanocitta stelleri diademata. Range.--Southern Rocky Mountains from Arizona to Wyoming. No general difference can be found between the eggs of this species and the Steller Jay, and the nests of each are constructed similarly and in like situations.




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YOUNG BLUE JAYS.
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BLUE JAY.
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 Florida Jay. 478c. Black-headed Jay. Cyanocitta stelleri annectens. Range.--Northern Rocky Mountains from northern Colorado to British Columbia. The eggs of this sub-species cannot be identified from those of the other varieties. Like the others, their nests are made of sticks plastered together with mud and lined with weeds and rootlets. 478d. Queen Charlotte Jay. Cyanocitta stelleri carlottæ. Range.--Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. 479. Florida Jay. Aphelocoma cyanea. Range.--Locally distributed in Florida. Greenish blue. All the birds of this genus have no crests or decided markings, are white or grayish below, and more or less intense blue above, with the back grayish or brownish blue. This species is 11.5 inches long, has a pale blue crown and a nearly white forehead. It has a very limited distribution, being confined chiefly to the coast districts of middle Florida, and very abundant in some localities and rare in adjoining ones. They build shallow structures of small sticks and weeds lined with fine rootlets and placed at low elevations in bushes or scrubby trees. The three or four eggs, which are laid in April or May are dull greenish blue, marked with olive brown. Size 1.00 x .80. Data.--Titusville, Fla., April 17, 1899. Nest of sticks in a scrub oak, five feet from the ground. 480-487. 480. Woodhouse's Jay. Aphelocoma woodhousei. Range.--United States west of the Rockies and from Oregon and Wyoming to Mexico. Bluish green. This species has the crown and forehead bluish, and the underparts gray, streaked with bluish gray on the breast. It is also larger than the last, being 12 inches long. They are very abundant in the Great Basin between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevadas, breeding during April or May in scrubby trees or bushes at low elevations and generally near streams. They lay from three to five eggs of a dull bluish green color, spotted with umber and lilac gray. Size 1.08 x .80. Data.--Iron County, Utah, May 3, 1897. 4 eggs. Nest of sticks and weeds in a small pine tree.