24 



THE OOLOGIST. 



very dirtcront as t lie spots are so close 

 jis to entirely hitle the ground color, 

 like some speeinieus of the Cactus Wren, 

 und the whole egg jiresents a delii-ate 

 light "pinkish ai»i)earance. They are 

 ditierent from any eggs of this species 

 that 1 have seen, including the Smith- 

 sonian series, and 1 value them very 

 highly. 



Theoi'oke W. Rk'Hahds. 



Washington, D. C. 



The Prairie Horned Lark in Monroe 

 County, N. Y. 



I have seen l)ut very little in the pag- 

 es of The Oologist, on the nesting of 

 tlie Prairie Horned Lark in the United 

 States, and, as I have found several 

 nests, 1 Avrite this article hoping it will 

 l)e of interest to some of the readers of 

 this interesting magazine. I have seen 

 the l)ird here every month of tlie year 

 fiKcept Di'cemlier. Jf one has ever been 

 .seen here in December it has not come 

 to my knowledge. They tly over us 

 northward from .January unlil April. 

 A few stay to breed and from Septembei- 

 until Deceml)ei' they ll}' South. In this 

 locality the bird certainly breeds twice 

 (iach s<>afon, as my experience will 

 show. It is a singular fact that though 

 riiave found seven nests in the hist 

 three years, yet 1 know jjositivel.y that 

 no other collector in this a icinity has 

 found a single nest. The earliest nest 

 I have found was on the 23d of March, 

 1889. (It is quite jjrobahh^ that they 

 sometimes lay earlier, as a friend of 

 mine found a young liiid in tlie latter 

 part of April that could 11y some.) It 

 was ]il;iced in a hole. e\iiiently made 

 for the i)urpo>e liy llie bird, in a field 

 that li:i(! been used as a pasture the fall 

 before, it was made entirely of thistle 

 down and was very dry and snug. The 

 bird was on the nest when found. It 

 contained three fresh eggs. They were 

 greenish white spotted so thickly with 

 has and lavendar as to give them a 



cloudy appearance. On (he lOtli of 

 April following I found another nest 

 similarly situated and constructed. 

 This contained three eggs like the first 

 set Avhich 1 took, but left the nest. On 

 going back to the nest tAvo days later I 

 found another egg, but it had been 

 fro/A-n and cracked. After this 1 foiuid 

 no more nests until midsumnu'r. On 

 the 2nd of June I found a nest (-(Uitain- 

 ing three fresh eggs. This was situated 

 in a growing cornlield close und(^' 'the 

 edge of a sod, and Avas made Aery 

 poorly of dead grass. On the 1st of 

 July I found another nest in the s^me 

 tield containing four eggs; nest lik/ the 

 last. If the Horned Lark lays more 

 than four eggs I Avould like to hear 

 from .'^lome Avho has found a set of live 

 through the columns of the The Oolo- 

 gist. I have found one set of two near- 

 ly hatched, the I'cst have ;dl beeji sets 

 of three and four. Tiie average size is 

 .87 X m. 



Ekxkst Shout . 



Winter Birds of Hennepin Co., Minn. 



1 do not intend to gi\e a complete 

 list but only some of our less ciunmon 

 Avinter visitors, Avhicli have fallen under 

 my notice: 



Evening (iros))eak. Plentiful. Re- 

 side hcj'e all winter, feeding on l)ox 

 elder seeds. These birds are r;\rely 

 found Avithont the city, but ])refer to 

 rennxin Avithin the limits. Tiiis iuakes 

 it dillicult to oljtain thein, still the air 

 guns a!id "nigger shooters" enable one 

 to obtain any reasonable num))er. 



Bohemian WaxAving. Conur.on at 

 times. Winter \ isitor. This I think is 

 one of oui' hnndsdmest l)irils. This 

 year are very rare, l^ast year common. 



Northern Shrike. Arrive a!>out IS'o- 

 A'ember. Same hal)its as White-rump- 

 ed. Fairly alnmdant. 



Lapland Longspur. A few stray 

 birds are found in large flocks of Snow 

 Buntins's. I^asily distinguished from 



