NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 99 



able locality. The site chosen is, as is well known, a meadow. 

 Samuels affirms, "the localit}- is generally in a meadow or low 

 field." I have as often found the nest on upland in a field of red 

 clover or one of timoth}^ grass. In such situations it reposes in 

 a concavity of the earth, partially hidden and protected b}' en- 

 veloping and over-arching grasses.' Nuttall's description thereof, 

 though correct in his da}', according to the writer's experience 

 needs some modification. As the nest of the same species varies 

 with a change of locality, this difference may be attributed thereto. 

 According to that eminent authority "it is compact, made of wiry 

 grass, to which a hidden and almost winding path is made, and 

 generally so well concealed that the nest is only to be found when 

 the bird is flushed." I have alwa3rs observed a looseness of 

 arrangement in its structure. The materials out of which it is 

 built are the hollow stems and leaves of Phleum pratense. These 

 are accumulated principally in the bottom, to insure protection 

 against the dampness of the ground. 



It is seldom that the hen bird can be detected on the nest. 

 When alarmed by approaching footsteps, there is no sudden up- 

 rising or whirring of wings as is usual. Aware of danger, she 

 quietly slips out of the nest and noiselessly wends her way through 

 the thicket of grasses, along well-beaten paths which she has made 

 for the purpose. 



The food of the meadow lark consists chiefly of larval insects, 

 together with earthworms, beetles, grasshoppers, and the seeds of 

 grasses. Nuttall says it does not appear that it ever adds berries 

 or fruits to its bill of fare. The writer is confident he has seen it 

 feasting upon the small black cherry which is so plentiful during 

 the month of June. The period of incubation is from 14 to 15 

 days according to various observations. 



Subfamily Icterin^, 

 Icterus spurius, Bonap. 



The orchard oriole is quite as common as its near relative. It 

 reaches us from the genial South about the first of May. Samuels, 

 in describing its nest in Massachusetts, says substantially, it is 

 deposited on a forked branch of a tree in an orchard, at an eleva- 

 tion of not more than twenty feet from the ground, and constructed 

 of different grasses neatly and compactly woven together 5 the whole 



