Genus ANTHUS, Bechst.
Anthus, Bechst. Gemein. Naturg. Deutschl. 1802. (Type, Alauda spinoletta.)
Anthus ludovicianus.
328
Char. Bill slender, much attenuated, and distinctly notched. A few short bristles at the base. Culmen concave at the base. Tarsi quite distinctly scutellate; longer than the middle toe; inner lateral toe the longer. Hind toe rather shorter than the tarsus, but longer than the middle toe, owing to the long, attenuated, and moderately curved hind claw, which is considerably more than half the total length of the toe. Tail rather long, emarginate. Wing very long, considerably longer than the lengthened tail, reaching to its middle. The first primary nearly equal to the longest. The tertials almost as long as the primaries.
But one species of this genus belongs properly to North America, although a second is accidental in Greenland and Alaska. The diagnoses are as follows:—
Bill and feet blackish. Prevailing color above olive-brown. Beneath buff. Edge and inside of wings white. Shafts of middle tail-feathers above dark brown … A. ludovicianus.
Bill and feet dusky flesh-color. Prevailing color above olive-green; more distinctly streaked. Beneath greenish-white. Edge and inside of wings greenish-yellow. Shafts of middle tail-feathers above whitish … A. pratensis.
Zander (Cabanis Journal, Extraheft I, 1853, 64) states that Anthus cervinus, Pallas, is found in the Aleutian Islands. It is described as having
The feet yellowish-brown; the two longest under tail-coverts with a blackish longitudinal spot; the longest tertial almost equal to the longest primary; the shaft of the first tail-feather mostly white; no green on the plumage; the throat rust-color.