g4 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



of this species is altogether of a different character, being a low gliding mo- 

 tion, o\-ertopping the weeds and bushes. Tliat the birds were nesting at this 

 time is rendered still more probable by tlie fact tliat the males noticed as we 

 passed along were out of all proportion, in numbers, to the females seen. 

 Th(!y were very heedless of approach, and any number could have been 

 readily destroyed. I never saw any at Fort Whipple, or elsewhere in Ari- 

 zona, though Dr. Heermanu says that they are abundant in the southern 

 portions of the Ten-itory, and specimens are recorded from Lower Califor- 

 nia." 



]\Ir. Allen found the Lark Bunting one of the few birds that seemed 

 strictly confined to the arid plains near Fort Hays, in Kansas. He met with 

 it in great abundance, but only on the high ridges and dry plateaus, where 

 they seemed to live in colonies. He describes them as very wary, and very 

 tenacious of life, often flying long distances, even after having been mortally 

 •wounded. They seemed to delight to fly in strong winds, when most other 

 birds kept in shelter. They sing while on the wing, hovering in the wind 

 and shaking the tail and let's after the well-known manner of the Yellow- 

 breasted Chat. Its song seemed to him to strongly- resemble that of the 

 Chat, with which, at such times, its whole demeanor strikingly accorded. 



Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds collected in the survc)^ on the 

 32d parallel, states that he first observed these birds on approaching the 

 Pimos villages. They were associated with large flocks of Sparrows, glean- 

 ing grain and grass-seed upon the gi-ound. When started up they flew but 

 a short distance before they resumed their occupation. After crossing the 

 San Pedro he again found them in large flocks. At Fort Fillmore, in !Me- 

 silla Valley, it was also quite common and associated ■nith the Cowbird and 

 Blackbird, searcliing for grain among the stable offals. He again met with 

 them in Texas, in the month of April, most of them still retaining their 

 winter coat. He describes the tremulous fluttering motion of the wings with 

 which the male aeuompauies its song while on the wing as ^'cry much after 

 the manner of the Bobolink, and he speaks of their song as a disconnected 

 but not an unmusical chant. He found their nests on tlie ground, made of 

 fine grasses, lined with hair, and in one instance he found the eggs spotted 

 ■with faint red dashes. 



At Gilmer, in Wyoming Territorv', their nests were found by Mr. Durkee 

 built on the ground, and composed of dry grasses very loosely arranged. 

 Tlie eggs, four or five in number, are of a uniform and beautiful light shade 

 of blue, similar to those of the Empiza aviericana. They measure .90 by 

 .70 of an inch, are of a rounded-oval shape, and, so far as I have observed, 

 are entirely unspotted, although eggs with a few reddish blotches are said to 

 have been met with. 



