112 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



of tbe warm springs, where the high temperntiiro of the water kept 

 the meadow soft and comparatively green, even during the coldest 

 weather. In April, just before their departure for the North, they 

 were observed in their more highly-colored spring plumage. 



The Titlark breeds abundantly in the barren regions of the far 

 north, from Labrador to Alaska, and on the i)leak summits of the 

 Rocky Mountains as far south at least as Colorado, The nest is 

 built on the ground, and the eggs are so densely speckled with 

 chocolate-brown as to sometimes appear uniformly of this color. 



