SHORE-LARK. Gil 



is the sentinel, and alarms the tiock on the approach of 

 danger." It appears on the shores of Hudson's Bay in May, 

 and proceeds thence still further north to breed. But Audubon 

 found it, as Dr. Coues has since done, breeding also on the 

 high and desolate tracts of Labrador near the sea, and has 

 given a pleasing account of its manners as observed by him. 

 It arrives here early in June : the cocks are very pugnacious 

 and so jealous of their mates that the sight of one of their 

 own sex excites them to battle, and no sooner does an en- 

 counter between two begin than the fray is joined by others 

 who close, flutter, bite and tumble over as House-Sparrows 

 in Europe do on like occasions. The several pairs do not 

 breed near each other. The nest is imbedded in a patch 

 of moss and here, though not in Lapland, is said to be 

 lined with feathers — those of the Grouse especially. The 

 eggs are laid at the beginning of July, and the hen, while 

 sitting, so closely resembles the moss in hue that she may 

 be nearly trodden upon before she will stir. When dis- 

 turbed, however, she flutters away, feigning lameness so 

 cunningly as to deceive almost any one not on his guard, 

 and is then immediately joined by the male who utters a 

 soft and plaintive note. The young quit the nest before 

 they can fly, and running nimbly follow their parents by 

 whom they are fed for about a week. Only one brood is 

 here said to be reared in the season. By August many of 

 the young are fully fledged, and the different broods associate 

 to the number of fifty or more. They then remove to the 

 neighbouring islands, and early in September depart for the 

 south, starting at dawn and flying near the Avater in so 

 straggling a way that they can be scarcely said to move 

 in flocks. Other observers have described the manners of 

 this bird in the interior of North America almost as 

 minutely, but to quote their remarks would be merely to 

 repeat much that has been already given. The nature of 

 the district induces some slight change of habit — for in- 

 stance Nuttall on the plains of the river Platte found the 

 nest lined with coarse bison-hair, but this change is generally 

 unimportant. 



