AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 195 



THE SLEEPING QUARTERS OF THE PRAIRIE HORNED LARK. 



W. W. Jr.. Mich. 



It has always been a mystery to me as to where the Horned Larks 

 are able to roost during the cold winter months, with snow on the ground 

 and the thermometer frequently below the zero mark. Often have I 

 watched these birds late in afternoon, intending to trace them to their 

 roosting place, but all the satisfaction I could get was to see the birds fly 

 high in the air and soon disappear. However, I accidentally caught a 

 small colony going to roost as follows: Late one afternoon while pass- 

 ing a large sand bank, I noticed five of these birds coming swiftly to 

 the earth and in another instant they alighted within a few yards of me, 

 but did not appear to notice me at all and I could easily observe their 

 movements. After running up and down for some time, they retired, 

 each one selecting some crevice that would offer ample protection 

 against the wind and snow. The next day they returned again and 

 have often been seen since. Both Prairie and Horned Larks are rare 

 during January, but the second week in February generally shows an 

 abundance of them. 



I should like to call the attention of Eugenia Chapman Gillette, who 

 writes in the July American Ornithology under the head of "The 

 Daughterless Flicker," to the fact that immature female Flickers have 

 dark mustaches -which they lose on coming of age. (See Florence 

 Merriam Bailey's "Handbook of Birds of the Western United States", 

 edition of 1902, page 220.) Yours truly, 



Charles H. Rogers, 



New Jersey. 





