OF EASTERN I'EXXSYLVANIA. 567 



It is seldom that the hen bird can be detected 

 on the nest. When alarmed by approaching 

 danger, there is no sudden uprising or whirring 

 of wings. , Ware of imminent peril, she quietly 

 slips out of the nest, and noiselessly winds her 

 way through the thicket of grasses, along a well- 

 beaten path which had been made for the purpose. 

 The male is seldom observed. In case of moles- 

 tation of the nest, not the slightest fuss is made. 



The young leave the nest when fifteen days old, 

 and in ten days are prepared to support them- 

 selyes. In the a-utumn the birds collect in small 

 {locks, and thus retire to the south, where among 

 the salt marshes of Alabama, and West Florida, 

 .r.vording to Mr. Nuttall,they seek food and shelter. 

 Fi England, individuals of this species have oc- 

 curred, so says Mr. Sclater. 



Hie eggs are oval,.and have reddish-brown spots 

 upon a white ground-color. These spots are 

 mostly equally diffused; occasionally they are 

 mainly found about the larger extremity. The 

 r-gs vary much in size, the smallest coming from 

 Florida, and the largest from Massachusetts. In 



Eastern Pennsylvania the ordinary measurement 

 is i .18 by .82 of an inch. 



The variations that exist in the egos of the 

 'Meadow Lark are doubtless clue to the difference 

 in the age of the parents, and also to the circum- 

 stances under which the eggs are deposited. 

 Those of old, mature birds, laid in early summer, or 

 the first. brood, are usually sub-globular or bluntly- 



