THE WESTERN LARK SPARROW. 



105 



ing young' rancher, ni}' companion lialted with a ci'_\-. He liad caught the 

 gleam of a Lark Sparrow's eye as she sat brooding under a perfect mop of 

 dead broom-sage. The camera was brought intc.i requisition, and tlie lens 

 pointed downward. The camera-cloth bellied and tlapi)ed in the breeze, vellow 

 tripod legs waved belligerently, and altogether there was much noise of 

 photographic cijm- 



merce, but the 

 mother 

 eg-ffs. The 



little 



clung to her 



stupid 

 glass eye of the ma- 

 chine, spite of all 

 coaxing, saw noth- 

 ing but twigs, and 

 we were obliged to 

 forego a picture of 

 the sitting bird. To 

 get the accompany- 

 ing picture of eggs, 

 I was obliged to 

 hack awav the pro- 

 tecting brush. ha\- 

 ing first slipped in a 

 handkerchief to pro- 

 tect the nest and 

 contents f r o m 

 showering debris. 



The desert harbors 

 many choice spirits, 

 but none (save the 

 incomparable Sage 

 Thrasher) more joy- 

 ous or more talented 

 than the Lark Spar- 

 row. Whether it 

 is running nimlily 

 along the ground or leaping into the air to catch a risen grasshopper, one 

 feels instinctively that here is a dainty breed. The bird loves to trip ahead 

 coquettishly along a dusty road, only to yield place at last to your insistent 

 steed with an air of gentle reproach. As it flits away you catch a glimpse 

 of the rounded tail, held half open, with its terminal rim of white, and you 

 know you have met the aristocrat of the sage. 



Lark Sparrows are somewhat irregular in distribution, but their range 



Taken near Chelan. 



Photo by the Anther. 



GROUND NEST OF WESTERN L.\RK SPARROW. 



