328 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



straight lines, or if the wind be strong, he heads up into it and remains in 

 the same place. The performance ended, he plunges head foremost down to 

 earth, reaching it in a marvelously short space of time. The descent is as 

 silent as the ascent. 



Nesting. — Audubon (1841) gives the first account of the nesting 

 of this species, as follows: 



The Shore Lark breeds on the high and desolate tracts of Labrador, in the 

 vicinity of the sea. The face of the country appears as if formed of one un- 

 dulating expanse of dark granite, covered with mosses and lichens, varying in 

 size and colour, some green, others as white as snow, and others again of 

 every tint, and disposed in large patches or tufts. It is on the latter that the 

 Lark places her nest, which is disposed with so much care, while the moss so 

 resembles the bird in hue, that unless you almost tread upon her as she sits, 

 she seems to feel secure, and remains unmoved. * * * 



The nest is imbedded in the moss to its edges, which are composed of fine 

 grasses, circularly disposed, and forming a bed about two inches thick, with 

 a lining of Grouse's feathers, and those of other birds. 



Townsend and Allen (1907) say: "At Frenchman's Isle on July 

 16th, we found the nest of a Horned Lark composed of dry grass 

 and a few large feathers, deeply sunk into the reindeer lichen and 

 moss in a level piece of ground. There was no shelter or covering 

 of any sort. It contained three dark-skinned young, clothed spar- 

 ingly in sulphur-yellow down. Their eyes were not yet open." Ben- 

 dire (1895) quotes, from some notes sent to him by E. A. Mcllhenny, 

 an account of a nest found by him on an island near Cape Charles 

 Harbor on July 18, 1894, as follows: "The nest was embedded in a 

 slightly inclining bank of moss and entirely below the surface of the 

 moss; it contained five richly marked eggs, slightly incubated. 

 When I found the nest it gave me the impression of being very small 

 for the bird ; but this was due to the fact that the entrance was small, 

 and the hollow was enlarged under the moss. The nest was deeply 

 cupped, having a thickness of about 1 inch of fine dry grass ; it was 

 lined with the down from reindeer moss and the white feathers of 

 Ptarmigans." C. W. G. Eifrig (1905) reports a nest found near 

 Cape Chidley: "The nest, placed on the ground, partly sunk in the 

 moss, is made of moss, plant stems, grasses, finer toward the cup; 

 this is lined with feathers and caribou hair. The outside diameter 

 is 5 in., of cup 2 in., depth of cup, 1.75-2 in., outside depth, 2-2.50 in." 



Eggs. — The northern horned lark lays three to five eggs, probably 

 oftener four than any other number. Major Bendire (1895) gives 

 a very good description of the eggs of the "pallid" horned lark 

 { = hoyti), which would apply equally well to those of this and the 

 other races. He says that they — 



are mostly ovate in shape, less often elongate ovate. The shell is close grained, 

 rather strong, and shows little or no gloss. The ground color is mostly drab 

 gray, sometimes grayish white; in an occasional specimen a faint greenish 



