2i8 THE PACIFIC HORNED LARK. 



and British Columbia ; "migrating to eastern Oregon and Washington, and 

 northern Cahfornia (Red LUuff ; San Francisco)" (Ridgway). 



Range in Washington. — Found breeding only on prairies west of Cascades, 

 therefore chiefly conhncd to Pierce, Thurston and Chehalis Counties; said to 

 winter on East-side. 



Migrations. — Spring: last week in February; Tacuma, February 25, 1905, 

 February 10, 1 90S. 



Authorities. — ErcmophUa conuita Boie, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv., IX. 

 1858, 404, 405. ( T). C&S. L". Ra. B. 



Specimens. — ( U. of W.) Prov. B. 



THE prairies of Pierce, Thurston, and Chehalis Cotinties, so often re- 

 ferred to in these pages, are of comparatively recent formation — mere gravel 

 beds leveled off by the action of a retreating sea — and so thoroly washed thru 

 portions of their area as to be capable of supporting little else than a carpet 

 of moss. The wanton recklessness of the Pacific Horned Larks, which in- 

 habit these open stretches, is reallv but one degree removed from the modesty 

 of their more fortunate kinfolk across the Cascades. It is modesty without 

 opportunity ; and that easily becomes shamelessness. For here the ground 

 is of an uncompromising green, and the "cover," afforded bv slight depres- 

 sions in the moss, is usually tmworthy of the name. 



The perfection of green barrenness was attained in the golf-links of 

 South Tacoma, before they were surrendered to the demands of the growing 

 city. Yet this was the very place where the Horned Larks appeared to the 

 best advantage. Returning, as the}' did, about the 25th of Febrtiary, in good 

 seasons, they disported themselves like mad Pixies for a month or so, engag- 

 ing in amorous pursuit and f recjuent song-tlight ; until in some way, late in 

 April, domestic order began to emerge from the chaos of rival claims, and 

 little homes dotted the prairie, where belted scjuires and red-jacketed ladies 

 pursued the twinkling gutta-percha. The conflict of interests, avian and human, 

 was sometimes disastrous to the birds. Mr. Bowles records three instances in 

 which Larks were killed by flying golf balls; and another gentleman, himself 

 a devotee of the game, tells me he once saw a bird struck dead in mid-air. 



By the spring of 1906 matters had gone from bad to worse. The golf- 

 links became a sort of common, despairingly resorted to by a few enthusiasts 

 and a motley laity. The northwest portion of the section was staked out into 

 lots, and the whole area was criss-crossed by roads and paths, whereby work- 

 men, school-boys and delivery wagons hastened to and fro. Then it became 

 the special pasture of a band of fifty cows, the lean kine of Pharaoh's dream 

 multiplied by seven; and to the terrors of two hundred heedless hoofs was 

 later added a flock of sheep, being fattened for sacrifice at a neighboring 

 slaughter-house. This common was also a favorite romping ground for 

 children, while dogs simply went crazy upon it. I saw one rabid beast in a 



