io8 The Ottawa Naturalist. [August 



I find that the snow on open ground was practically gone 

 this year on March 2nd, which gave the birds 9 days to build 

 and prepare before laying In other years there is usually snow 

 much later than this ; for instance, in 1901, the winter's covering 

 was all melted on March 25th, and in 1900, about April 25th, It 

 is evident from these dates ihat this Lark is a species of which 

 certain individuals are much influenced by the state of the weather, 

 although a number of other pairs observed this season, were 

 on April 2nd still feeding in couples, and evidently not nesting as 

 yet. On the other hand, the majority of birds seen along the 

 roadsides between March 22nd and 2Sth were single males whose 

 mates were probably engaged in the task of incubation. 



The only other bird we have that regularly breeds very early, 

 is the Great Horned Owl, anJ unfortunately the local data at hand 

 from which we can make a comparison with the Larks, are 

 exceedingly meagre, consisting of the record of two sets of eggs in 

 1902 and one in 1901. 



Of course one would naturally expect that large birds would 

 be more slowly influenced by abnormal conditions ot weather than 

 would small ones, and the data of these 3 sets fully confirm this 

 conclusion. In 1901, when the snow left us on March 25th, and 

 when no Larks' eg^s, probably, were laid before March 28th or 30th, 

 I took a set of Great Horned Owl, consisting of 2 eggs, almost 

 fresh, on March 19th, six days before the snow had vanished on the 

 open levels ; whereas, this year, asetof two was taken near London 

 on March 25th, of which one was almost fresh and the other had 

 been incubated for perhaps 4 or 6 days. These two eggs were 

 probably laid about March i8th and 22nd, after over two weeks of 

 bright warm weather with the ground free of snow, and four or 

 five days later than the date of those found before the snow had 

 vanished in the previous year. These sets were both taken from 

 open nests, that of 1901 from a nest built by a crow in 1900, and 

 that of 1902 from a nest of undecided origin. 



The other set from 1902, also confirms the conclusion that 

 these birds do not regard the weather, but in a different wa5^ It 

 consisted of 3 eggs, and was taken on March 21st, from a hole in 

 a basswood stub 42 feet above the ground. Two of these eggs 

 were addled, but the shell of the other one was pipped and the 



