-^ • 



ologi^t^ 



rT Vol. IV. 



APRIL, 1878. 



No. 2. 



Nesting of the Horned Lark (Ere- 



mopila cornuta) in Central 



New York. 



BY FRED. J. DAVIS. 



,N the 15tli of April, wlieii out view- 

 \w^ the prospects for the coming sea- 

 son's nesting, I made what seems to 

 me quite j'.n unusual find. In company 

 with Mr. J. P. Davis, I was crossing a 

 high field near this city (Utica), wliea our 

 setter dog. Shot, came to a very sudden 

 and magnificent point. Knowing there 

 could be no Snipe in such a place, we were 

 somewhat surprised at this proceeding, and 

 on returning to ascertain the object of the 

 dog's attention we found a nest containing 

 three young birds and one egg. We were 

 somewhat at a loss to know Avhat kind of 

 a bird could have young so early, and es- 

 pecially among those who built in such a 

 position. We went away a short distance 

 and sat down to await further developments, 

 but had uot long to wait, for the parent bird 

 soon came to feed its young, when, I am 

 sorry to say, we were obliged to shoot it. 

 It proved to be the female of the Horned 

 Lark {Erernopila cornuta). We soon shot 

 the mate and took the egg and young. One 

 of the young I have before me as I write, 

 and am in hopes of bringing him up ; the 

 other two were hurt and died. 



The nest was placed on a small, dry hill- 

 ock, and was perfectly exposed. It Avas 

 composed of soft, dry grass, without any 

 lining, and was so frail that to preserve it 

 I was obliged to scoop up earth and all. 

 The young had apparently been hatched 

 about two weeks and were well feathered. 

 The bird, in leaving the nest had struck its 



claw into the egg. It contained a large 

 embryo, and was of a yellowish-gray color, 

 spotted all over with almost invisibly fine 



dots of a darker shade. The accompany- 

 ing cut gives a good idea of its general ap- 

 pearance. Since finding the above, I have 

 heard of the occurrence of several pairs of 

 these birds, and have no doubt now that 

 they have bred here in some numbers, a, 

 thing which to my knowledge never happen- 

 ed before, and I fear, unless we are favor- 

 ed with another such extraordinary spring 

 as the present one, may never happen again. 

 I have seen fit to write this account for Thk 

 OoLOGiST, because I think this is tlie first 

 reliable record of this bird breeding in this 

 State. De Kay gives a rather ambiguous 

 and indefinite description of its nest and 

 eggs, which, like many other of his state- 

 ments, I am not inclined to credit with much 

 reliability. And whatever credit is due for 

 the finding of this nest, is due to the sagac- 

 ity of the dog Shot, who has in numerous 

 instances, shown liimself an elhcient bird- 

 nester, and I am in hopes of having him 

 display his talents to good advantage this 

 season. 



Oology from CALiFOUNfA. — Here birds 

 commenced laying as early as April first. 

 The birds laying now (April 1.5) are the 

 following : Brewer's Blackbird, Sky Lark, 

 Lark-finch, Hoiise Finch, Humming-birds, 



