LARK BUNTING 641 



the most venturesome of the migrants reach then- northernmost 

 breeding grounds in southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta 

 by the last week in May. 



Couriiship. — We note the courtship of the lark bunting chiefly in 

 the approximately 2-week period between their arrival in flocks and 

 their gradual dispersal to the nesting areas. Langdon (1933) describes 

 courtship among lark buntings in Colorado as follows: "Courtship, 

 delightful to behold, takes place in the flocks. Females seem receptive 

 as the males, with fluffed feathers and uplifted crowns, sing to them 

 individually during the brief pauses in the busy journeyings. Soon 

 after this home-coming jollity has spent itself, the flocks break up 

 into pairs and homestead the plains and plateaus to an elevation of 

 almost 9000 ft. above sea level." 



It seems probable that the spectacular flight song of the lark bunting 

 is an important part of the courtship performance, although, in general, 

 this type of singing is continued well past the courtship period, 

 perhaps to about the middle of July. During courtship the male 

 sings almost continuously, sometimes perched on fence posts or tall 

 weeds, but more commonly on the wing. For a description of this 

 striking flight, see Behavior. 



Published evidence indicates that the lark bunting does not attempt 

 strongly to establish or maintain territories. Thus, Whittle (1922) 

 reports that after dispersal of the larger flocks, the lark buntings 

 nested in colonies in which five or six nests were "so close together 

 that the males often sang from a series of fence posts at the same time." 

 A. A. Saunders (MS.) has pointed out that "if there were territories, 

 the birds crossed over each other's frequently whfle singing, but it 

 may have been that when they alighted they did so only in their own 

 territories." This tolerance of other buntings seems to be extended 

 to other prairie species as well. Thus, Langdon (1933) writes: "Our 

 Troubadour of the Plains is gentle of manner and pleasingly sociable 

 among his fellows. He lives a beautiful family and community life. 

 Amiability is a characteristic trait. I have yet to see him quarrel 

 with the Desert Horned Lark or the McCown Longspur much less 

 with one of his own kind, even when the plains are populated with 

 many pairs of all three birds." 



Bailey and Niedrach (1938) report that the lark bunting commonly 

 nests with chestnut-collared longspurs, McCown's longspurs, desert 

 horned larks, and mountain plovers as near neighbors. 



Nesting. — The nest of the lark bunting typically is a rather simple 

 affair, usually laid in a depression in the ground and made of grasses, 

 slender weed stems, and fine roots, often lined with finer material of 

 the same sort, plant down, or hair. It is very similar to the nest of 

 the dickcissel. A. D. Du Bois (MS.) described a nest found in Teton 



