888 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 paRT 2 



At Lake Texoma the males exhibit their strongest sense of terri- 

 toriaUty early in the courtship phase of the reproductive cycle. Each 

 male on territory challenges any other lark sparrow that approaches, 

 advances toward it until the two are only inches apart, then raising 

 his head and pointing his bill skyward. If the second bird is a male 

 it responds by raising its head and elevating its bill in like manner. 

 The two then fly at one another and rise high into the air together, 

 frequently striking their wings against each other. They may repeat 

 this performance several times before one of the two retires. I once 

 watched two males repeat the fighting flight six times in 3 minutes 

 before one bird gave in. 



If the second bird is a female it does not posture in any way, and 

 either ignores the advancing male or retreats. If the male is not 

 mated, he will probably court her by strutting about on the ground 

 before her with bill pointed upward, tail fanned, and fluttering his 

 half-opened wings. Or he may fly some 30 yards or more with rapidly 

 beating wings, singing and spreading his tail. He sings frequently 

 during courtship (see Voice) from the ground, in flight, or perched 

 in trees or on wires. He sometimes sings his flight song while flying 

 from one perch to another, but often he flies high into the air, singing 

 the entire time, and alights again in the same spot, still singing. 

 He is not a treetop singer like the painted bunting, for instance, and 

 does not choose a favorite perch to sing from throughout the day, but 

 sings from a variety of perches within his territory. 



Copulation is attempted soon after the birds are paired and is 

 performed frequently during courtship and throughout the periods of 

 site selection and nest building. As J. C. Barlow (1960) describes it in 

 Kansas, "the female crouches in a precopulatory or solicitation posture; 

 the male, meanwhUe having picked up a small twig, then mounts the 

 back of the female. Copulation ensues, lasting for approximaely two 

 seconds. Within this short passage of time the male passes the 

 twig to the female, which turns its head slightly to facilitate the 

 transfer to its beak. Upon completion of copulation the pair, the 

 female stiU carrying the twig, flew to a distant part of the nursery 

 and the two birds were lost from sight." 



I never observed the twig-transfer in the Oklahoma birds, but 

 during the nest-building stage the female often held a straw in her 

 bill while copulating. This might take place either on the ground 

 or while she perched on a wire or branch. Apparently either sex 

 may initiate the procedure. Several times when a pair sat side by 

 side on a wire or branch the female suddenly fluttered her wings and 

 raised her tail, which evidently stimulated the male, for copulation 

 ensued immediately. Or the male may start the action by flying 

 toward the female and hovering above her for a few seconds until 



