. Reports of explorations and surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean . difference, however, is seen in eastern specimens, as 7429, fromCleveland. Upon the whole, therefore, in the absence of perfect spring specimens of the eastern form, Imust confess my inability to give reliable distinctive characters of two or more species, thedifferences being only such as might be found in a wide range of the same species. The questionas to the much more southern breeding range of the bird westward than to the east, may
. Reports of explorations and surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean . difference, however, is seen in eastern specimens, as 7429, fromCleveland. Upon the whole, therefore, in the absence of perfect spring specimens of the eastern form, Imust confess my inability to give reliable distinctive characters of two or more species, thedifferences being only such as might be found in a wide range of the same species. The questionas to the much more southern breeding range of the bird westward than to the east, may beanswered by the suggestion of Dr. Cooper, that they there alone find the peculiar prairies orthe desert region which they frequent. The difference insisted on by Mr. Audubon, in reference to the tail feathers of two species,has no real existence in nature. •There is a great diversity of plumage in the western shore larks, varying with the sex, age,and season. Without specimens at hand, I am unable to state the difference between the AmericanEremophila cormda and the European E. alpestris. BIRDS ALAUDIDAE EREMOPHILA CORNUTA. 405 List of 406 U. S. p. E. K EXP. AND SURVEYS—ZOOLOGY—GENEKAL EEPOET. Family ERIN GILLID AE. Primaries nine. Bill very short, abruptly conical and robust. Commissure strongly angulated at base of bill. TarsiscutelSite anteriorly, but the sides with two undivided plates meeting behind along the median line, as a sharp posterior ridge. The systematic arrangement of tlie fringilline birds of the United States is more difficult thanthat of any other group, owing to the Lirge numher of species closely related to each other andexhibiting endless though minute variations in structure and iorm. Nearly all authors regu-larly avoid committing themselves by an attempt at the definition of their different divisions,giving only the names of types as indicative of their meaning. I have, therefore, been able toderive no aid from ornithologicai publica
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