ICTERID.E — THE ORIOLES. 253 



four thousand feet above it, where I believe tliey had nests. Tliey were 

 also common on the cooler plains towards the ocean on July 1st, so that they 

 doubtless breed in many parts of tlie southern portion of California, as well 

 as up the coast to Puget's Sound, and throughout most of the Great Plains of 

 the interior. In May or June the males rise nearly perpendicidarly into 

 the air until almost out of sight, and fly about in an irregular circle, singing 

 a sweet and varied song for several minutes, when they descend again, 

 nearly to the spot they started from. 



Tiie nest is made in a small depression of the ground, usually under a 

 tuft of grass or a bush, composed of grass, sometimes lined with hairs, and 

 the eggs are Iduish-white with darker spots nearly covering them ; their 

 number four or five. 



In i'all they associate sometimes in very large flocks, frequenting the bare 

 plains or prairies, but not the sea-shore. Both the name of sky-lark (Ijc- 



Iiinerfiue of tarsus^ and under surfact of foot. 



longing properly to another species) and shore-lark are objectionable, and 

 horned lark, though not strictly correct, is the most ajipropriate, and as 

 applicable as that of horned owl. 



Their food consists of the small seeds and insects they fiud among the 

 grass. Tiiey probably never alight on a tree or bush. 



Family ICTEPJD^, The Orioles. 



CiiAE. Primaries nine. Tarsi scutellate anteriorly ; plated behind. BiU 

 long, generally equal to the head or l(.inger, straight or gently curved, coni- 

 cal, without any notch, the commissure bending downward at an obtuse 

 angle at the base. Gonys generally more than half the culmen. Basal 

 joint of the middle toe free on the inner side ; united half-way on the outer. 

 Tail rather long, rounded. Legs stout. 



Sub-Family AGEL.EIN.-E. 



CliAK. Bill stout, conical, and acutely pointed, not longer than tlie head ; 

 the outlines nearly straight, the tip not decurved. Legs adapted for walk- 



