HABITS. This European species claims a place in the North American fauna on the ground of a single specimen having been found in Greenland, in 1845, and one at St. Michael’s, Norton Sound. In the Old World it is the counterpart of our _ludovicianus_, which, in all respects, it closely resembles. It is the most common and the best known of European Titlarks. In Great Britain, where it is found throughout the year, it appears to prefer the uncultivated districts, inhabiting commons and waste lands, and in the more northern parts frequenting the moors. It is also found in meadows and marsh lands, in winter seeking more sheltered places. It is rarely seen to alight on a branch or to sit on a rail. Its song is soft and musical, and is usually uttered when on the wing or when vibrating over its nest. It seeks its food altogether on the ground, running nimbly in pursuit of insects, slugs, and worms. According to Yarrell its nest is built on the ground, generally among the grass. It is composed externally of dried sedges, lined with finer materials and some hair. The eggs are six in number, of a reddish-brown color, mottled over with darker shades of the same, and measure .80 by .60 of an inch. According to the observations of English naturalists, this bird resorts to various ingenious devices to conceal its nest, or to draw aside attention from it, such as feigning lameness when it is approached, and concealing it by artificial covering when it has been once discovered. The Meadow Pipit is common during the summer months in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, visiting also the Faroe Islands and Iceland. It inhabits the whole continent of Europe as far south as Spain, Italy, and Sicily. It has also been found in Northern Africa, and, according to Gould, in Western Asia. Temminck also states it to be among the birds of Japan. According to Degland these larks, after the breeding-season, unite in small flocks, probably families, and frequent low and damp localities. In summer they are more often found on high and dry mountain plains. Their flesh is said to be delicious. GENUS NEOCORYS, SCLATER. _Neocorys_, SCLATER, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. Lond. 1857, 5. (Type, _Alauda spraguei_, AUD.) CHAR. Bill half as long as the head; the culmen concave at the base, slightly decurved at the tip. Rictus without bristles. Legs stout; tarsi distinctly scutellate, longer than the middle toe. Hind toe very long, equal to the tarsus, much longer than the middle toe; its claw but slightly curved, and about half the total length. Inner lateral toe rather longer than outer. Wings much longer than tail; first quill longest. Tertials considerably longer than secondaries. Tail rather short, emarginate. But one species of this genus is known, it being peculiar to the Western plains. Neocorys spraguei, SCLAT. MISSOURI SKYLARK; SPRAGUE’S PIPIT