232 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



Mr. J. A. Farley ^ has given a full account of this bird in Essex County, 

 having found it in the breeding season both in Groveland and in Lynnfield and 

 he has taken the nest and eggs. In one locality in Essex County, he says, 

 "the bird is plainly increasing in numbers." He states that it arrives late 

 in May, about the 20th, and that he has found the nests in June, always in 

 bushy meadows grown, or growing, up more or less thickly with alders. The 

 lower growth of wild rose bushes is the favorite nesting spot for this bird, 

 although once he found the nest in a small shrub of meadow-sweet {Spircea 

 salkifolia, var. latifolia). I have, following Mr. Farley's directions, found the 

 bird in Lynnfield, although I am more familiar with it on the coast of Maine. I 

 have described the song in my notes as ze iv/iit, very loud and harsh, and again 

 as wee sie-t, frequently repeated. I have heard a bird sing almost constantly in 

 this way for two hours. The bird sits with tail nearly horizontal, but when the 

 song is given he points the head straight up, the tail straight down, and at once, 

 after the effort, returns to the original position. 



192 [467] Empidonax minimus (Baird). 

 Least Flycatcher ; Chebec. 



Common summer resident ; April 22 to August. 



Eggs : May 25 to July i. 



The vigorous call of this little Flycatcher is a familiar sound in May and 

 June in most parts of Essex County. 



193 [474] Otocoris alpestris (Linn.). 

 Horned Lark ; Shore Lark. 



Winter visitor, abundant in the autumn and early winter, not uncommon in 

 late winter, common in the spring ; September 28 to April 10. 



I have kept a census of the numbers of this bird at Ipswich for some years, 

 and from this I have deduced the above statement as to its relative abundance 

 during the winter season. My earliest date, September 28th, is of a specimen 



1 J. A. Farley: Auk, vol. i8, p. 347, 1901. 



