NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 



219 



examined. In the table of comparative measurements given below, it will be 

 seen that the specimens from Gre<mland and Labrador are very n(^arlj of the 

 same dimensions, and also larger than European skins, thougti the details of 

 bill, tarsus, &c., do not differ materially. It is not impussible that Vigor's 

 bird should be distinrt from the ii'. cennnfhe, especially as the measurements,* 

 if accurate, would indicate a bir<i of rather small dimensions for so northern a 

 3 locality ; but at present I cannot but regard the Labrador bird as identical 

 with the European. The questiim can only be definitely settled by a series of 

 specimens from different localities in both continents. 



Comparative Measurements. 



Regulds calundula (L.) Licht. — Ruby-crowned Kinglet. 

 Regulus calendula, And., Birds Amer. ii. 168, pi. 133. Baird, Gen. Rep. 226. 



A single specimen, a bird of the year, was obtained at Rigolet, on the 6th of 

 August, shot in a very densely wooded ravine. No other individuals were 

 observed. It is, however, in all probability an abundant bird in Labrador. 



Anthus Ludovicianus (Gm.) Licht. — Tit-lark. 



Anthiis Ludovicianus, Aud. Birds Amer. iii. 40 ; pi. 150. Baird, Gen. Rep. 

 232. 



The Tit-lark I found abundant in every locality in Labrador which I visited, 

 and I had ample opportunities of observing its habits during the breeding 

 season. It is the most numerous of the land birds, with the exception, per- 

 haps, of the white-crowned sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrya. Some of the most 

 rocky and barren islands along the coast are inhabited only by these birds, 

 with perhaps a solitary pair of horned larks, Enmophila cornuta. It fre- 

 quents only open, bare, and exposed situations, such as the coast of Labrador 

 every where affords, and is never found in thickly wooded localities. 



Two nests which I obtained, were precisely identical in situation, form and 

 construction. Each was placed on the side of a steep precipitous chasm, in a 

 cavity in the earth of about the size of a child's head, into which a little dried 

 moss had been previously introduced to keep the nest from the damp earth. 

 It was composed entirely of rather coarse dried grasses, very loosely put to- 

 gether, with no lining of any sort. The external diameter was about six 

 inches ; the exterior three inches, by two in depth. The eggs were in one in- 

 stance five, in the other four ; their average length, for they varied somewhat, 

 was thirteen-sixteenths of an inch, by nine-and-a-half-sixteenths of an inch in 

 greatest diameter ; of a dark chocolate color, indistinctly marked with numer- 

 ous small lines and streaks of black. 



The parent does not leave the nest until nearly trodden upon ; then she 

 flutters off with loud cries of distress which soon bring the male, though with- 

 out attempting to lead the intruder from the nest by feigning lameness, as is 

 the habit of so many birds. The pair together hover over the head of the in- 



1861.] 



" Length, 5}4; wing, 3Ji; bill, rictus, %; tail, 2)4; tarsus, 1." 



