WESTERN BIRDS

Volume 14, Number 3, 1983

A EURASIAN SKYLARK AT POINT REYES, CALIFORNIA, WITH NOTES ON SKYLARK IDENTIFICATION AND SYSTEMATICS

JOSEPH MORLAN, 417 Talbot Avenue, Albany, California94706 RICHARD A. ERICKSON, Post Office Box 657, Klamath, California 95548

"...perhaps the mostcontroversial bird in California'sbirding history... the bird in questionwas identifiedfor severaldays by a legion of birdersas a Smith'sLongspur. Eventually, it provedto be a speciesof lark!"

--Shuford and DeSante 1979

We reporthere on a EurasianSkylark (Alauda arver•sis) wintering at Point Reyes,Marin County, California, from 1978 to 1983, whichshowed charac- teristicsof northeastAsiatic/Alaskan populations. It representsthe first rec- ord of a naturallyoccurring Eurasian Skylark in North Americaoutside of Alaska and the first North American mainland record. Morlan (1979) and McCaskie (1979) discussedthe bird's initial visit, and the record has been reviewedbriefly by Roberson(1980). From the beginningthis bird posed an identificationproblem which seemedinsurmountable. Intense controversy developed over whether the bird shouldbe collected,some of which appearedin print (Duncan 1979, Bourne 1980, Garrett 1980, Gibson 1981b). Ultimately this record was reviewedand acceptedby the CaliforniaBird RecordsCommittee (Luther 1980). We presenthere details of howthe identificationproblem was finally resolvedin the hope that it may serveas a guidefor suchdifficult cases in the future.

THE RECORD

Hall Ranch, above Drake's Beach Visitors'Center at Point ReyesNational Seashore,is recognizedas the most productivesite for vagrant"grassland passerines"in centralmainland California. At about 1300 on 16 December 1978, while coveringthis area for the Point Reyes ChristmasBird Count, WesternBirds: 14:113-126, 1983 113 EURASlAN SKYLARK AT POINT REYES

Ericksonfirst observed the EurasianSkylark. Other birdspresent at thistime included about 250 Horned Larks (Erernophilaalpestris), 40 Water Pipits (Antbusspinoletta) , 35 SavannahSparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis), 12 to 20 LaplandLongspurs (Calcarius lapponicus) and 2 or 3 Chestnut-collared Longspurs(Calcarius ornatus). The skylarkwas somehow passedoff as an aberrant Lapland Longspur until later that eveningwhen the possibilityof Smith'sLongspur (Calcarius pictus)presented itself. Assuming the bird wasa longspur,it clearlyfit Smith's best and Ericksonsoon becamerather convincedhe had seen that species. Over the next 31/2days most of California'sactive birders saw the skylarkand virtuallyall of them were content with it as the first Californiarecord of Smith'sLongspur! On 20 December,following an examinationof specimensat the California Academy of Sciencesand the Universityof CaliforniaMuseum of Vertebrate Zoology,Laurence C. Binfordsuggested the bird wasa skylark,either Eura- sianSkylark or OrientalSkylark (A. gulgula),or possiblya LesserShort-toed Lark (Calandrella rufescens). With this information, Jon Dunn and others studiedspecimens at the Museum of VertebrateZoology and tentatively identifiedthe bird as a EurasianSkylark from one of the northeastAsiatic populations. The lark was seen on a regular basisthrough 19 February 1979 but not thereafter. Hall Ranch is checked consistentlythrough the fall, and the skylarkwas rediscoveredthere 27 October-1November 1979 (Laymon and Shuford 1980), but we suspectit may have winteredin other fieldson Pt. Reyes.The bird returnedto Hall Ranchfor the followingwinters: 25 October 1980-21 February 1981 (Evensand LeValley 1981, LeValley and Evens 1981), 3 November 1981-3 January 1982 (Evenset al. 1982, LeValley and Evens1982), and31 October1982-29 January 1983 (LeValleyand Roberson 1983, Evensand LeValley1983). Eachwinter photographs were obtained by AlbertGhiorso and compared with those of otheryears; and each year the bird appearedunchanged, indicating the sameindividual was involved as skylarks exhibita greatdeal of individualvariation (Vaurie 1951).

DESCRIPTION

The followingdescription is basedprimarily upon photographstaken by Albert Ghiorso and on the authors' field notes (all on file with the California Bird Records Committee). Size and shape:Basically very similarto Horned Lark but with broaderwings (greaterwing area) and perhapsslightly smaller, shorter-tailed and chunkier. Head: Crown tawny and heavilymarked with parallellong dark-brown(nearly blackish)streaks; crown set off by cream-coloredeye-rings and superciliaries(more narrowin front of eye but extendingto bill)joining narrowly across nape to form a distinct"coronal band" (long crestfeathers helped set off crown from nape); crest clearlyevident when crownfeathers raised slightly; auricular patch ochraceous-buff faintlystreaked with mediumbrown and borderedby a bandof rusty-brown,this band beingnarrow along the fore edge, irregularalong the rear edgeand curvingaround belowthe eye, avoidingthe pale eye-ring;a separaterusty-brown spot present in the lores; nape (paler than back and crown, giving a definite collaredeffect) cream- 114 EURASlAN SKYLARK AT POINT REYES

colored, moderatelystreaked with mediumbrown merginggradually into upper back; chin and throat pale ochraceous-buffwith two adjacentnarrow malar stripes(dark brown) on either side; a row of very fine, shortstreaks extending across lower throat; sidesof neck cream-colored,gradually merging with color of throat. Upperparts: Central upper back-feathersdeep brown with extensive blackish centers,a ring of paler back-feathers(cream-colored with dark-browncenters) along the sidesand behindaccentuating the more richlycolored feathers; scapulars exten- sivelydark brown with buff fringes,forming a doublerow of darker feathersbetween wing and back; lesserwing coverts,uppertail coverts, rump and lower back-feathers buff-edged with faily extensive dark-brown centers; uppersidesof secondaries medium brown, uppersidesof primariesdark brown, all with rather narrow cream borders(more rusty borders on someprimaries, especially inner ones); tips of second- aries and innermostprimaries whitish, clearly evident in flight; greaterwing coverts markedas adjacentflight-feathers but lackingwhite tips; middle wing covertsexten- sivelydark browncentrally forming an obviousband of darkerfeathers across wings; tertiariesblackish with some suggestion of hazel,outermost tertiary edged rufous; cen- tral rectricesmedium brown fringedwith buffl outermostrectrices largely white; in- 'termediaterectrices primarily blackish, outer ones with largely white outer webs and inner ones with buff and rustyfringes. Underparts:Breast ochraceous-buff (brightest on uppersides) heavily streaked with very dark brown (blackish),these streaks becoming heavier and rustiertoward sides of upper breast, often forming distinctdark collar marks on either side when head turned; breaststreaking stopping abruptly at throat, givinga necklacedeffect; sides and flanksbuff and inconspicuouslystreaked with brown, but normallyobscured by wings;belly and undertailcoverts whitish, contrasting sharply with buff on breast,and with a faint wash of buff acrossvent; leg featherspale buff and extendingto ankle; undersideof wingspale gray with brownishunderwing coverts. Soft parts: Eye very dark; bill rather broad-basedand shallow (not unlike Horned Lark), pale horn-coloredwith blackishculmen and tip; legsand feet pinkish(duskier along upper surfaceof tarsi) with extremelylong clawsevident on hind toes. Voice: Most common call a short note, low pitchedend rough, reminiscentof the call of NorthernRough-winged Swallow ($telgidopteryxserripennis); also a seriesof rich, low, musical"chirrup" calls. Some observersreported brief segmentsof flight song. Behavior:Associated with a largeflock of Horned Larks, invariablyone of the last birdsto flush;crouched low whilefeeding, often taking a concealmentposture with wingsslightly spread; walked deliberately without bobbing or hopping;occasionally walkedabout standing quite tall and revealingits legs, unlike the longspurspresent; flightvery bouyant,especially upon landing.

Figure 1. Outer wing shape of Eurasian A.arvensis (Alaudaarvensis) and Oriental(A. gulgula) skylarks showing differencesin relative lengthof five outermostvisible primaries, numbered5-9 (after Portenko 1954). A.gulgula 1.1.5 EURASIAN SKYLARK AT POINT REYES

IDENTIFICATION (ELIMINATION OF SIMILAR SPECIES)

Smith's Longspur

It is obviousfrom the photographsthat the bird is not a Smith'sLongspur. The bill shape evident in Figures2 through4 is too slenderfor a longspur. Note particularlythe color of the central rectricesin Figure 2; these brown central rectricesare not presentin longspurs.Additionally, winter plumaged Smith'sLongspurs usually have brightbuff colorationextending over the en- tire underparts.

Other Larks

Most other lark genera bear no real resemblance to Alauda. Harrison (1966) proposedmerging Lullula and Galeridainto Alauda but his sugges- tion was not followedby Hall and Moreau (1970). Voous (1977) or Devillers (1980). Galerida includesthree speciesof African sun larks (G. rnodesta,G. frernantilii,and G. rnagnirostris)which are somewhatsimilar to skylarksbut lack white outer rectrices. Galerida also includes three sibling speciesof crested larks (G. cristata, G. rnalabarica, and G. deva) which also lack white outer rectricesand can furtherbe told by their abruptcrests, which are much more prominent and pointed than on skylarks.Woodlark (Lullula arborea)

i.

Figure2 EurasianSkylark at PointReyes, California. 11 February1979 withwing and tail spread.Note while tips to inner primaries.and pure white. not rulescent white,outer rectrices Photoby AlbertGh•orso 116 EURASIAN SKYLARK AT POINT REYES can be distinguishedby its much shortertail, with white corners,and itsvery prominent"coronal band" (the mergingof the pale superciliarystripe with the short pale feathersof the nape). LesserShort-toed Lark is much smallerthan any skylarkor Horned Lark. The bill of LesserShort-toed Lark is very small and much more conical in shape than in A!auda. A!auda has a very long hind claw and a short crest, whereas Lesser Short-toed Lark does not.

Razo Island Lark

Although the genus A!auda is usually confined to two species,arvensis and gulgula, another species has recently been added to this genus. "$pizocorys"razae was placed in A!auda by Hall (1963), and most recent authors (Bannerman and Bannerman 1968, Burton 1971, Voous 1977, Devillers 1980) agree. This lark breeds on a section of Razo Island in the Cape Verde group off West Africa, where it is endemic. It has a very small population and is entirely nonmigratory.Compared to the skylarks,razae has a longer, more curved bill, a much lessdistinct face pattern, and a much shorter hind claw (Harrison 1966).

Figure3. EurasianSkylark at Point Reyes,California, 21 December1978. Note rich russetcolor on upper back and crown. Dark auricularpatch is exaggeratedby shadow and featherangle. Contrast between pale napeand heavyback markings is characteristic of birdsfrom northeastAsia. Also note crestfeathers overlying feathers of upper nape forminga "coronalband." Photo by Albert Ghior$o

117 EURASIAN SKYLARK AT POINT REYES

Oriental Skylark

Most similarto EurasianSkylark is the OrientalSkylark, whichis resident in Kazakhstan, India, China and SoutheastAsia. The two are siblingspecies and, in many instances,field separationof the two may be impossible.The most reliable differences are structural. Wing Formula.--The wing tip of Eurasian Skylark is more pointed than that of Oriental Skylark (see Figure 1). Skylarkshave ten primaries,but the outermost (tenth) is minute and not visiblein Figure 5. In EurasianSkylark the sixthprimary is clearlyshorter than the wingtip, while in OrientalSkylark the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth primariesare almost equal in length (Portenko 1954, Vaurie 1955). The sixth primary in Figure 5 is clearly shorterthan the wing tip. This differencecan also be seen in Figure 4 where the sixth and seventhprimaries are visiblebeyond the tertiaries.In Oriental Skylark the seventh primary does not extend nearly as far beyond the sixth (pets. obs. of specimens). Bill Shape.--The bill of OrientalSkylark is relativelylonger, lessdeep and more curved than that of EurasianSkylark (Vaurie 1951, 1955: Kuroda 1953: Harrison 1966 contra Voous 1960: Heinzel et al. 1972). We com- pared the bill shapeof our bird by projectinga slideon a screenand placing an actual specimentof EurasianSkylark in front so that its shadowfell on the screen. The bill shape of the specimenexactly matched that of the bird in Figure 4.

Figure4. EurasianSkylark at Point Reyes,California, 28 December 1978. Note short stubbybill and shortenedsixth primary Photo by Albert Ghiorso

118 EURASIAIN SKYLARK AT POINT REYES

Althoughthe structuraldifferences discussed above are sufficientfor iden- tification, there are other differences mentioned in the literature. We are uncertainthat thesedifferences apply to all populations,but basedon our ini- tial examinationof specimensthey appearto be valid. Face Pattern. -- Oriental Skylark has a pale superciliarystripe but only posteriorto the eye (Harrison1966). Figure6 clearlyshows the pale stripe both anterior and posteriorto the eye. Harrison (1966) also pointed out that the "coronal band" is more distinctin EurasianSkylark. It is clearly visiblein Figure 3. Four enlarged prints were sent to David Snow at the British Museum (NaturalHistory) at Tring. Snow (in litt.) stated,"There is no doubt, I think, that it is a SkylarkA. arvensis,not gulgulawhich (on the basisof our skins)has a rather lessdistinct head pattern." Colorof InnerPrimaries.--While both species have a whitetrailing edge to the innerwing, Dolgushin (1970) pointedout thatthe innerprimaries are notwhite-tipped in OrientalSkylark, whereas they are on EurasianSkylark. Figure2 clearlyshows white tips on the innerprimaries. Color of UnderwingCoverts.--According to Sharpe (1890), Oriental Skylarkhas paler underwingcoverts. Color of Outer Rectrices.--Theouter rectricesof OrientalSkylark are rulescent-white(Ali and Ripley 1972) or buff(Heinzel et al. 1972) andpure white in EurasianSkylark. This distinctionprobably applies best to Indian populations,but notethese feathers are pure whitein Figure2.

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.:. . . ._ = ..... = ß

Figure5. EurasianSkylark at PointReyes, California, 12 February1981. Spreadwing showspointed wing tip and prominentflank streakingof thisspecies. Photo by Albert Ghiorso 119 EURASIAN SKYLARK AT POINT REYES

Extent of Ventral Streaking.--According to All and Ripley (1972) breast streakingis usuallymuch finer and lessextensive on OrientalSkylark. Sharpe (1890) noted an almost entire absenceof flank-stripeson Oriental Skylark (cf. Figure 5). Behavior.--Dolgushin (1970) and Eck (1973) statethat Oriental Skylarkis never found in flocks, even during migration. The Pt. Reyes bird always associatedclosely with flocksof Horned Larks. Voice.--La Touche (1930), Misonne (1953), Erard and Etchecopar (1970) and Desfayesand Praz (1978) report that Oriental Skylark has a dif- ferent call-note.Thorpe (1961) statesthat flight-notesform a componentof the EurasianSkylark's song. The call-noteswe heard at Pt. Reyes can be detected interspersedin the Eurasian Skylark song on the recording by Kellogget al. (1962). The Pt. Reyes bird was attractedto a play-backof this recordingon one occasion(Arnold Small pets. comm.). Vaurie (1951) sug- gestedthat the songsof the two speciesmay be different. Another possibledifference claimed by Dement'ev and Gladkov (1954) and Heinzel et al. (1972) is the proportionallyshorter tail of OrientalSkylark. This distinctionappears to be invalid (Eck 1973). Charactersseparating the two givenby Fleminget al. (1976) are bestdisregarded. The allegedEurasian Skylarkspecimen (Fleming 1968) uponwhich the distinctionswere based was actuallya misidentifiedOriental Skylark (MelvinTraylot in litt.).

Figure6. EurasianSkylark at Point Reyes, California,28 December1978 The dark neckbandshowed only when the bird turned its head or crouched.Note the pale lores. Photo by Albert Ghiorso

120 EURASIAN SKYLARK AT POINT REYES

DISTRIBUTIONAL EVIDENCE

The EurasianSkylark is one of the mostfamiliar and widespreadbirds of the PalearcticRegion. Except for an introducedpopulation on VancouverIsland and attemptedintroductions elsewhere, the firstNew World recordcame from the PribilofIslands, Alaska, in 1967 (Thompsonand DeLong 1969). It is now recognizedas a regular migrant and casualsummer visitoron the islandsof westernAlaska with possiblebreeding on the Pribilofs(Byrd et al. 1978, Kessel and Gibson 1978, Gibson 1981a). It is significantthat a bird identifiedas A. a. pekinen$i$was collectedon Green Island, Kure Atoll (HawaiianIslands), 7 October 1963 (Clapp and Woodward 1968). Two small birds with white outer rectriceswere seen there for over a week before a specimenwas secured. Commentingon the specimen,George Watson (in Clapp and Woodward 1968) wrotethat it "... has the blackcentral portions of the back-feathersfar more extensivethan in any European specimens [cf. Figure 3] and in this character resembles specimensfrom western[sic] China.... [It agrees]with the population pekinen$iswhich breedsin northeastSiberia, Kamchatka, and the Kuriles." We believethe "skylark"sightings of Fisher(1965) at MidwayAtoll are uncon- vincing. We are awareof only one otherpublished reference to a possiblenaturally occurringEurasian Skylark in NorthAmerica south of Alaska(Ramsey 1978): one seen 26 May 1968 briefly in flight over a ship about 15 miles west of Depoe Bay, Oregon (FredRamsey in litt.). The circumstancesof the sighting leave the identification uncertain. We feel that the patternof appearancesduring five consecutivewinters at PointReyes indicates regular migrations were beingundertaken. We will not speculateon where the bird spent its summers,but we do note that Point Reyesis at the samelatitude that A. a. pekinen$isnormally winters in Asia.In fact, only two racesof skylarkare consideredto be highlymigratory, A. a. dulcivoxand A. a. pekinen$is(Vaurie 1951). All Alaskanspecimens have beenidentified as A. a. pekinen$i$(Kessel and Gibson1978, Gibson1981a). Theoccurrence of A. a. pekinen$i$at PointReyes would not be overly surpris- ing consideringits prior occurrenceat Kure Atoll and the multiplerecords in Californiaof similarlyranging species such as Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe),Black-backed Wagtail (Motacillalugens--see Morlan 1981) and Red-throatedPipit (Antbuscervinus). The introducedpopulation of nominatearven$is on southernVancouver Island is essentiallysedentary (Stirling and Edwards 1962). The recent spreadto the San JuanIslands, Washington, involved an overwaterflight of only 18 km (Weisbrodand Stevens1974). The Victoriapopulation is now believedto be declining(Harrington-Tweit et al. 1980) and nonewere found on the Christmas Bird Count in the area in December 1980 for the first time since1958 (Shepard1981, and in litt.). Phillips(1928) reported that 75 pairsof EurasianSkylarks (race unknown but probablyarven$is) were releasedin San Jose,California, around 1896 and about200 were liberatedin Santa Cruz, California,in 1908. All even- tuallyperished (Grinnell and Miller 1944). In Californiait is a violationof the CaliforniaAdministrative Code to importskylarks. No exceptionshave been 121 EURASIAN SKYLARK AT POINT REYES granted and it is the opinion of the Wildlife ProtectionBranch, California Departmentof Fish and Game (JamesZobel pers. comm.), that the bird at Point Reyes was wild. The OrientalSkylark is essentiallysedentary with only a few racesunder- takingany true migratorymovement. A!auda gulgulainopinata is the only race consideredby Vaurie (1951) to be migratory. It moves at most from Kansu Province, China, to northern Burma. The chance of such a bird oc- curring in California is extremely remote.

SKYLARK SYSTEMATICS

SpeciesLevel

Since some recent authors have questionedthe validity of the specific statusof the two skylarks(e.g. Desfayesand Praz 1978), and sincevarious past authorshave treated them as subspeciesgroups instead of full species (Hartert 1922, Meinertzhagen1951), we includea briefsummary of someof the literaturewhich pertainsto the systematicsof the two taxa. Some recent Russianpublications are reviewed here in Englishfor the first time. The two groupswere originallyclassified as separatespecies by Sharpe (1890) and this view was upheld by Vaurie (1951) based on apparent breedingrange overlap in Kazakhstan.This sympatryhas since been well describedand mapped by Dolgushin(1970). Where the breedingranges of the two forms overlap, the Oriental Skylark nestsin moistriver valleysand the EurasianSkylark breeds in alpinemeadows. However, the two formsdo nest sideby side in two localitiesin the foothillsof Boroldayand Karzhantau in Kazakhstan.No hybridizationhas been reported. The populationof skylarkbreeding in Japan is usuallyconsidered a sub- speciesof EurasianSkylark (Vaurie 1959, Peters1960). We have treatedit here as a subspeciesof OrientalSkylark, since it hasrecently been found that it does not interbreedwith EurasianSkylark where the two nest on Kunashir Island(Nechaev 1969, Stepanian1980). It is alsoprobable that the breeding range of EurasianSkylark overlapsthat of japonica in southernSakhalin (Kuroda1953, Gizenko1955, Yamashina1961), and possiblyon Yagishiri Island (Udagawa 1953, but cf. Kuroda and Morioka 1974). Alaudagulgula japonica has plumage characters closer to EurasianSkylark than to OrientalSkylark, but it haswing-formula and billshape much closer to the latter (Vaurie 1951, Kuroda 1953, Eck 1973). It is possiblethat it is an entirelyindependent species as suggestedby Stepanian(1978, 1980). We prefer to follow a suggestionof Vaurie (1954) and unite it with the Oriental Skylark.Jurgen Haffer (in litt.) has acceptedthis view and will includeit in a forthcoming volume of the Flandbuch der Vogel Mitteleuropas(U. Glutz, ed.).

SubspeciesLevel

It is beyondthe scopeof thispaper to discussall the geographicvariation in skylarks,or the subspecieswhich have been recognized by variousauthors. The numberof recognizedsubspecies of EurasianSkylark ranges from seven

122 EURASIAN SKYLARK AT POINT REYES

(Meinertzhagen1951) to sixteen(Dement'ev and Gladkov 1954). Vaurie (1959) recognizedten. The numberof subspeciesof OrientalSkylark is also controversial(Ali and Ripley 1972). Mostvariation is actuallyclinal (Meinert- zhagen1951), andthe numberof subspeciesrecognizable in a clineis highly subjective(Mayr 1969). Johansen (1944) proposed that A. arvensis be divided into three subspeciesgroups. We have modifiedhis idea somewhatto reflectthe three isolatedregions in whichEurasian Skylarks winter, as theirbreeding range is essentiallya continuum. Arvensisgroup -- Those races breedingin Europe and winteringfrom southernEurope and North Africa to the Middle East. Dulcivoxgroup -- Consistingof A. a. dulcivoxbreeding in centralAsia and winteringin the northern part of the Indian subcontinent.Larger and paler than the arvensisgroups but closelyallied to it. Pekinensisgroup -- Populationsbreeding in northeastAsia and wintering in China, consistingof A. a. pekinensis,A. a. Ionnbergi,A. a. intermedia, and A. a. kiborti. Highly pigmentedbirds, clearlyrelated to each other. David Snow (in litt.), comparingour photographswith specimensat the BritishMuseum, wrote: "It fitsthe race pekinensisvery well indeed, especial- ly the distributionand colourof the markingson the sideof the head. When I firstlooked at pekinensisthe match seemedso good that I thoughtthat your bird must be pekinensis;but when I looked at [other northeasternraces] I came to the conclusion that one cannot exclude them. Peter Colston of this department,who is very interestedin problemsof identification,has looked at the photos and specimensand he comes to essentiallythe same conclu- sion .... There is no doubt that the bird is from one of the eastern races of arvensis. " We compared our photographswith specimensand found that the large dark areas clearly visibleon the upper back in Figure 3 and the finely- streaked nape, distinctface pattern and rich color of the breast matched ratherclosely specimens of birdsin the pekinensisgroup. In thesecharacters it differsfrom examplesof the other two groups.The rich russetcolor on the upperback and crown (Figure3) and orange-buffground color of the breast (Figure 6) is most frequent on birds from coastal populationsin northeast Asia, sometimesgiven subspecificstatus, A. a. blackistoni(Meinertzhagen 1951, Kuroda 1953).

SUMMARY

Documentation(including photographs) is presentedof the first natural North American record of EurasianSkylark (Alauda arvensis)outside of Alaska. The bird showscharacteristics of the pekinensisgroup of subspecies, and diagnosticfeatures which separateit from the very similarOriental Skylark(Alauda gulgula) are setforth. The specificstatus of thetwo taxa and the taxonomicposition of the Japaneseskylark population are reviewed.

123 EURASlAN SKYLARK AT POINT REYES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We wish to thank Laurence C. Binford for accessto specimensat the CaliforniaAcademy of Sciences;Victoria Dzaidosz,Anne Jacobbergerand Ned K. Johnsonfor accessand assistancewith specimensat the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology through National Science Foundation grant (BMS 7200102); Don Roberson for assistancein examining specimensand for recheckingsome of them. Eugene Eisenmann,Stuart Keith, David Snow and JeremyTatum providedus with opinionsof photographsand helpful advice.We especiallythank Albert Ghiorso whose tireless attempts to getbet- ter photographsentailed many trips to Point Reyes over a 5 year period. JurgenHaffer was especiallyhelpful with questionsof systematics.He sup- plied severalkey referencesand translatedparts of some of them for us. Cheryl Finch kindlytranslated Russian literature; Helmut Loringtranslated German; and JolaineMunck translated French. Helen Green typed the final draft. Laurence C. Binford, Jon Dunn, Brina Kessel and Tim Manoils read a draft of this paper and made many usefulcomments.

LITERATURE CITED

Ali, S. & S.D. Ripley. 1972. Handbook of the birdsof India and Pakistan,Vol. 5. Ox- ford Univ. Press, Bombay. Bannerman, D.A. & W.M. Bannerman. 1968. Birds of the Atlantic islands, Vol. 4. Historyof the birdsof the Cape Verde Islands.Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh. Bourne, W.R.P. 1980. Letter to the editor. Am. Birds 34:831-832. Burton,P.J.K. 1971. Sexualdimorphism in •41audarazae. Bull. BritishOrnithologists' Club 91:108-109. Byrd, G.V., J.L. Trapp & D.D. Gibson.1978. New informationon Asiaticbirds in the Aleutian Islands,Alaska. Condor 80:309-315. Ciapp, R.B. & P.W. Woodward. 1968. New recordsof birdsfrom the HawaiianLee- ward Islands. Proc. U.S. Natl. Mus. 124(3640):1-39. Dement'ev, G.P. & N.A. Gladkov, eds. 1954. The birdsof the Soviet Union, Vol. 5. Translated1970 by IsraelProgram for ScientificTranslations, Jerusalem. Clear- inghousefor Federal Scientificand TechnicalInformation. Springfield, VA. Desfayes,M. & J.C. Praz. 1978. Noteson habitatand distributionof montanebirds in southernIran. Bonner ZooiogischeBeitrage 29:18-37. Devillers,P. 1980. Projet de nomenclatureFrancaise des oiseauxdu monde. No. 9. Alaudidae aux Prunellidae. Le Gerfaut 70:121-146. Dolgushin,I.A. 1970. Ptitsy Kazakhstana,Vol. 3. Akadamiia Nauk Kazakhskoy SSSR, Alma-Ata. Duncan, R.A. 1979. Letter to the editor. Am. Birds 33:910. Eck, S. 1973. Neue festslellungenzur morphoiogieder feidlerchen (Alauda L.). Naturkundliche Jahresberichte des Museum Heineanum 8:19-29. Erard, C. & R.D. Etchecopar. 1970. Contribution a l'etude des oiseaux d'Iran. Memoiresdu MuseumNational d'Histoire Naturelie, Serie A Zoologie66: i-146. Evens,J., R. A. Erickson& R. LeValley. 1982. The autumnmigration. Middle Pacific coastregion. Am. Birds36:212-216. Evens, J. & R. LeValley. 1981. The autumn migration.Middle Pacificcoast region. Am. Birds 35:219-225. Evens, J. & R. LeValley. 1983. The winterseason. Middle Pacificcoast region. Am. Birds 37:332-337.

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Accepted 29 March 1983

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