62 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 



sion, a hoofprint or similar hollow already present, in which case the female 

 remodels it by using her bill as a combination pick and forceps tool. In some soil 

 the marks of her beak remain after the young have departed. The use of the bill 

 for digging the soil is not surprising, for the habit is often shown in feeding, when 

 the meadowlark employs it to probe for insects and grain and to dislodge clods 

 of earth. 



Once the hollow is satisfactory, the adjacent grasses or other growing plants are 

 pulled over the pit and interlaced, or secured by the addition of long stems or 

 blades of dead grass until they form a more or less complete dome which later 

 conceals the eggs from view and protects them from the sun and rain. Other 

 nests are not below the general surface level but are built entirely above it, there 

 being a front step as a result of this variation in architecture. 



The cup and nest lining are usually fashioned while the dome is in the process 

 of construction, first one part and then another receiving the attention of the 

 female. Many more than a hundred loads of dried grass going to the making of 

 the finished home. Although many authors credit both sexes of the eastern 

 meadowlark with the job of building, I have never observed a male sharing in 

 this activity. Perhaps he does, but such a male would be an exceptional individual, 

 and a far more helpful mate than any of the dozen males which had their intimate 

 lives scrutinized daily during my study at Ithaca, N. Y. 



G. B. Saunders (MS., see p. 56), the first to discover the common 

 practice of polygamy among meadowlarks, reports that the secretive 

 nature of the females and the inconspicuousness of their nests are two 

 of the principal reasons why the eastern meadowlarks have been able 

 to keep their polygamous habits a secret for so long. Although 

 meadowlarks breed in every one of the 48 States and are abundant in 

 most of them, no mention has appeared in the voluminous literature 

 on Sturnella regarding the frequent bigamy of the males of this sub- 

 species. His intensive field work in more than 20 territories at 

 Ithaca, N. Y., in 1931 revealed that about 50 percent of the males 

 were polygamous. One of them was found to have three females, all 

 of which were nesting at the same time. He adds that among the 

 several reasons why polygamy is common among meadowlarks is the 

 fact that the females are not hostile to one another as they are in 

 many other species; they feed together, associate with the male 

 together, and often nest within 50 feet of each other. Another is that 

 the males are repeatedly attracted by desirable females. 



Eggs. — The number of eggs of a set of the meadowlark varies from 

 three to seven, but sets of five eggs are most common. Sets of four 

 are more usual in the second brood nests of the season. Birds breeding 

 in the southern part of the nesting range on the average lay smaller 

 sets. 



According to Bendire (1895): 



The eggs of the Meadowlark vary considerably both in shape and size; the 

 majority are ovate, while others are short, elliptical, and elongate ovate. The 

 shell is strong, closely granulated, and moderately glossy. The ground color is 

 usually pure white; this is occasionally covered with a pale pinkish suffusion, and 

 it is very rarely pale greenish white. The eggs are more or less profusely spotted, 



