COMMUNICATIONS. 



OBSERVATIONS 



TJPON THE 



HABITS OF THE ALAXDA ALPESTRIS, OR PRAIRIE LARK. 



BY WILLIAM DE BARON, M. 



Dear Sir : — Your letter requesting me to furnish sometliing 

 for the forthcoming volume of the Wisconsin Agricultural 

 Transactions, has been received ; but having no materials at 

 hand, from which to prepare such an article as you might de- 

 sire and expect, yet being at the same time unwilling to let the 

 occasion pass, without contributing my mite towards the com- 

 pletion of the important work in which you are engaged, I 

 send you a few remarks upon the little bird mentioned at the 

 head of this article, which go to prove him a very efficient, 

 though humble friend of the farmer. 



The Prairie Lark, called in the books, though much less ap 

 propriately, the Shore Lark, belongs to the same genus as the 

 famous Sky-lark of Europe, (alanda arvensis,) though its few 

 piping notes cannot presume to rival the favorite song of its 

 European cogener. It is one of the most common birds in this 

 part of the country, and probably has been seen by every one 

 who has traversed the western prairies, though from its small 

 size and unobtrusive manners, it may not have attracted partic- 

 ular notice. They are often seen in dry summer weather, dust- 

 2q 



