[A] Fourteen subspecies of this wide-ranging, variable form are now recognized in America, north of Mexico. Many of them are too closely related to be distinguished even by detailed descriptions. When breeding, they may be identified, in life, by a knowledge of the area which each form alone inhabits at this season. But during their migrations, and in winter, when several forms may be associated, it is usually not possible to identify them in the field. The reader is referred to admirable monographs of this group by J. Dwight, Jr. (The Auk, vii, 1890, pp. 138-150), and H. C. Oberholser (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xxiv, 1902, pp. 801-884).

Range.--Eastern North America; breeds in Labrador and region east of Hudson Bay; winters south to South Carolina (chiefly on coast) and in the Mississippi Valley to Illinois.

Color Key to North American Birds — Part 169

=474b. Prairie Horned Lark= (_O. a. praticola_). W. [Male] 4; [Female], 3.8. Line over eye _white_. Similar to No. 474, but smaller, line over eye and forehead generally white, the throat often white and never so yellow as in winter specimens of No. 474.

Color Key to North American Birds — Part 169

Range.--Breeds in the Mississippi Valley, south to southern Illinois and Missouri west to eastern Nebraska and Assiniboia; east through northwestern Pennsylvania and central New York to western and northern New England; north to Quebec and Ontario; winters south to South Carolina, Kentucky, and Texas.

Color Key to North American Birds — Part 169

=474d. Texan Horned Lark= (_O. a. giraudi_). W. [Male] 3.9; [Female], 3.6. Similar to No. 474b, but somewhat smaller and paler; throat, forehead and line over eye yellow; _breast, in males, generally tinged with yellow_.

Range.--Coast of Texas from Galveston to the Rio Grande.

=474a. Pallid Horned Lark= (_O. a. arcticola_). W. [Male], 4.4; [Female], 4.2. Largest of our Horned Larks; _no yellow_ in plumage; throat, forehead and line over eye white; back brown with grayish edgings.

Range.--"In summer, Alaska (chiefly in the interior) with the Valley of the Upper Yukon River; in winter south to Oregon, Utah, and Montana." (Oberholser.)

=474k. Hoyt Horned Lark= (_O. a. hoyti_). W. [Male], 4.4; [Female], 4.2. Throat tinged with yellow; line over eye white; back darker, pink areas richer than in 474a. An intermediate form between Nos. 474 and 474a.