PRAIRIE HORNED LARK 343 



Henshaw (1884) erected the subspecies Otocoris alpestins praticola^ 

 splitting it from O. a. alpestns. Prior to this records of a new form 

 of lark and new lark breeding records were published from lower 

 Ontario and New York. These were variously interpreted as a "paler 

 form" or as a southward extension of O. a. aJpestris. Following 1884 

 a consistent and progressive series of records demonstrated that the 

 prairie horned lark, coming up probably from Michigan through 

 Ontario, invaded successively New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, 

 New Hampshire, Maine, and Connecticut. From New York or 

 Vermont it seems to have invaded Quebec much later; and lastly on 

 the north, probably from the New England States, New Brunswick, 

 Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Shortly after its entry 

 into New York the lark appeared in western Pennsylvania, then 

 farther east in that State, and south into Maryland and West Virginia. 

 Recently the prairie horned lark has been recorded as breeding in 

 the District of Columbia and Virginia. 



Less complete evidence seems to show that Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, 

 probably northern Kentucky, and southern Missouri have been occu- 

 pied by this lark since the white man has entered and altered those re- 

 gions. The regular advance of the bird, always consistent with geo- 

 graphic conditions, is suggested as an irrefutable evidence that such 

 an extension is bona fide. It is suggested that this extension of range 

 has resulted from changes that civilized man has made by deforesta- 

 tion and cultivation; thus creating permanent or seasonal semibarren 

 conditions that the prairie horned lark requires. 



The drier portions of the prairies of Illinois have probably long 

 been occupied by this lark. The studies of Forbes and Gross (1922) 

 seem to indicate that the lark, though it probably breeds in Lower 

 Austral, Upper Austral, and Transition Zones, seems to prefer the 

 Transition in that State. It is suggested that the prairies of north- 

 ern Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, eastern portions of 

 Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, and southern Manitoba 

 probably formed the ancestral home of the subspecies. Nearly all 

 this vast region would have been suitable for two broods in March, 

 April, and early May, though the bird would have been forced to 

 the more barren regions as the grasses became vigorous in late ]May, 

 June, and July. That this lark species is versatile in the matter of 

 occupation of new territory seems to be further demonstrated by the 

 observation of Giitke and Saunders in Europe with regard to 

 O. a. flava. 



Courtship. — Prior to the establishment of well-defined territories, 

 fighting between males is promiscuous; after that fighting takes place 

 only on territory boundaries, where two lark areas juxtapose. The 

 males, at the boundary line, frequently strut before each other and 



