NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 255 



Two broods are reared in a season, the first very early usually 

 by the last of April. Mr. L. Jones, of Grinnell, Iowa, states that as 

 many as three broods are reared in that region ; the first nest is built 

 late in March or early in April, the second about the first of June, and 

 the third late in July or early in August. The highlands of meadows 

 and cornfields are its resorts while breeding, the nest being placed in 

 a hollow of the earth, compactly made of dry grasses and corn 

 leaves, lined with a few feathers and horse hairs. Mr. Jones says that 

 the first nest is most elaborately made, while the second and third are 

 more slovenly put together. 



Three or four eggs are deposited, usually four ; their ground-color 

 varying from pale olive or light greenish to dull olive-buff, thickly 

 speckled and sprinkled with drab. A set of four eggs in my collection, 

 taken in Poweshick county, Iowa, by Mr. Jones, gives the following 

 measurements: .82x.6i, . 84 x .62, .82x63, .86x.62. Mr. Norris has 

 five sets taken in Jasper and Black Hawk counties, Iowa, in the latter 

 part of May and first part of June. The largest eggs in this series are 

 those in a set taken June 4, 1885, in the latter county. They measure 

 respectively .92 x .65, .91 x .64, .92 x .66, .93 x .65. 



474:. Otocoris alpestris arenicola HENSH. 



Desert Horned Lark. 



Hab. Great Plains and Rocky Mountain region of the United States. 



This subspecies inhabits the Rocky Mountain regions and the 

 Great Basin of the United States, coming east to Dakota, where it 

 breeds at least as far east as Ramsey county. Col. N. S. Goss gives it 

 as a common resident in Middle and Western Kansas, where it begins 

 laying early in April. Nesting, habits and eggs similar to O. alpestris 

 praticola. Average size of the eggs .86 x .60. 



Two sets, each containing three eggs, are in Mr. Norris' cabinet. 

 They were both taken in Larimer county, Colorado, on April 9 and 12, 

 1887, respectively. The nests were composed of grass and roots, 

 and were sunken in the ground under cactus plants. The eggs 

 are ovate in shape, of an olive-buff and light pea-green ground-color, 

 thickly speckled with drab. One set measures: .87X.65, .86x.64, 

 .83 x .65 ; the other, .89 x .60, .87 x .63, .82 x .60, respectively. 



474^. Otocoris alpestris giraudi HENSH. 



Texan Horned Lark. 



Hab. Eastern and Southeastern Texas. 



Mr. Joseph L. Hancock found this form of the Shore Lark very 

 common on the flats north of Corpus Christi, Texas, and on May 27 a 

 nest with four eggs was taken. A set of three eggs in Mr. Norris' 



