48 SELBY'S FLY-CATCHER.
eluding the tail-coverts, and a broad line over the eyes,'rich yellow. The
three external feathers of the tail marked internally with white, the first
more so than the second, and the third less than the] latter. Shafts of
the quills and tail-feathers deep brownish-black. Basirostral bristles
black.
Length 5 £ inches, extent of wings 7 | ; bill along the ridge along
the gap ; tarsus 1, middle toe
The female, as has been said, is nearly similar, the distribution of the
colours being the same.
FLOS-ADONIS.
ADONIS AUTUMNALIS, Linn. Sp. P I . p. 7 7 1 . Wild. Sp. PI. vol. ii. p. 1304. Smith.
Engl. Fl. vol. iii. p. 43.—POLYANDRIA PENTAGYNIA, Linn. RANUNCULACE^,
Jms.
This plant, vulgarly named PheasantVeye, grows in Europe in cornfields.
It has an erect, branched stem, with copiously pinnatifid, alternate,
sessile, dark green leaves, the segments of which are linear and
acute, and deep crimson flowers, having a black spot near the claw of
each of the petals, which vary from six to ten.
( 49 )
T H E B R O W N T I T L A R K .
ANTHUS SPINOLETTA. BONAP.
P L A T E X . MALE AND FEMALE.
ALTHOUGH this species is met with in every portion of the United
States which I have visited, I have not seen it anywhere during the summer
months, or heard of it breeding with us. It is one of the birds that
I should call gifted with a double set of habits, for, like a very few
others that are strictly named land birds, it occurs not only in the fields in
the interior of the country, but also on the borders of rivers, and even on
the shores of the Atlantic.
Its flight is extremely easy, and what I would call of a beautiful and
delicate nature. In other words, these birds pass and repass through the
air, performing numberless evolutions, as if it did not cost them the least
labour to fly. When in the interior of the country, they resort to the old
fields, and the vast prairies, as well as the ploughed lands, seldom in
flocks of less than ten or a dozen, and not unfrequently by hundreds.
Now, they are seen high, loosely moving in short reiterated undulations,
inspecting the ground below ; now, they come sweeping over and close
to it, and seem about to alight, when, on the contrary, their ranks close
in an instant, they wheel about, and rise again into the air. These feats
are often repeated six or seven times, when at last, satisfied as to their
safety, or the abundance of food in the spot, they alight, and immediately
run about in quest of food. They run briskly, and as lightly as birds
usually called Larks are wont to do, but with this difference, that they
suffer their tails to vibrate whenever they stop running. Again, instead
of squatting partially down, as true Larks do, to pick up their food, they
move their body upon the upper joints of the legs, in the manner of
Thrushes and other birds. Another habit seldom found in the Lark genus
is that of settling on fences and trees, and walking along them witli
apparent ease. In fact, the bird, although called a Lark by WILSON and
others, belongs to the Pipit or Titlark family.
Whilst residing among the meadows and ploughed fields, these birds
feed on insects and small seeds, picking up some gravel at the same time.
Along the rivers, or on the sea-shores, they are fond of running as near
D