The Horned Lark {Otocons alpestns praticola) 



By Henry W. Henshavv 



Length, about seven and three-quarter inches. The black mark across 

 the breast and the small, pointed tufts of dark feathers above and behind the 

 eyes distinguish the bird. 



Range: Breeds throughout the United States (except the South Atlantic 

 and Gulf States) and Canada ; winters in all the United States except Florida. 



Habits and economic status: Horned larks frequent the open country, 

 especially the plains and deserts. They associate in large flocks, are hardy, 

 apparently delighting in exposed situations in winter, and often nest before 

 snow disappears. The flight is irregular and hesitating, but in the breeding 

 season the males ascend high in air, singing as they go, and pitch to the 

 ground in one thrilling dive. The preference of horned larks is for vegetable 

 food, and about one-sixth of this is grain, chiefly waste. Some sprouting 

 grain is pulled, but drilled grain is safe from injury. California horned larks 

 take much more grain than the eastern birds, specializing on oats, but this 

 is accounted for by the fact that oats grow wild over much of the State. 

 Weed seeds are the largest single element of food. The insect food, about 

 20 per cent of the whole, includes such pests as May beetles and their larvae 

 (white grubs), leaf beetles, clover-leaf and clover-root weevils, the potato- 

 stalk borer, nut weevils, billbugs, and the chinch bug. Grasshoppers are a 

 favorite food, and cutworms are freely eaten. The horned larks, on the 

 whole, may be considered useful birds. 



The horned lark is a bird of the open fields, common not only during 

 the summer but still more abundant during the cold winter months, even 

 when the ground is covered with snow. 



This lark is about the size of an English sparrow, but is very differently 

 marked. The general color is a pinkish brown, the throat is yellow, there is a large 

 black mark on the breast, and just above and behind the eyes are small tufts of 

 black feathers which, when erect, have the appearance of horns, a feature from 

 which the bird derives its name. In the country one may often see companies 

 of horned larks running along the roadsides, in plowed fields and closely 

 grazed pastures, or, when the ground is covered with snow, in barnyards, 

 feeding on the waste grain left by stock. When encountered on a road or n 

 foot path, they often run before the observer for long distances, but if sud- 

 denly startled they take wing with a series of sharp whistling notes, flying 

 with hesitating movement to some adjoining field, or making a considerable 

 circuit and returning to the spot whence tiiey were startled. 



The horned lark begins its nesting operations very early, raising two or 

 three broods in a year, and the first of its nests is often built before the snow 

 has wholly disappeared. Commonly placed in a slight dcjiression in the 



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