18 Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



larks seem to be mated when they arrive in the spring, 

 and their love affairs seem scarcely less numerous in the 

 fall than in the vernal season. On their migration, they 

 travel quite frequently in couples, though solitary birds 

 and trios are common; and hence I have concluded that 

 many of these birds have a courting and mating season in 

 the fall after the summer moult. In their gallantries the 

 harsh, scolding note elsewhere referred to is particularly 

 emphatic, and is uttered by the birds on all occasions, 

 notably when one bird is in pursuit of another. 



The meadow lark nests on the ground in dry fields 

 and meadows. The nest is commonly made in a slight 

 depression at the base of a tuft of grass, which may serve 

 as a partial roof for the habitation. The nest itself is a 

 snug structure of dried grass. Nidification begins in the 

 latter part of April, and generally more than one brood 

 is reared. The eggs vary in number from four to six, 

 though complements of seven have been reported. They 

 are pure white, speckled and blotched with reddish and 

 purplish brown. An average egg measures 1.10 long by 

 .80 wide, in inches. One bright morning in the latter 

 part of April I found two nests of the meadow lark in a 

 hayfield containing many depressions made by the feet 

 of horses and cattle in wet weather. They were situated 

 beside tufts of green grass, which helped to form the 

 partial domes sheltering the grassy sitting-rooms. They 

 were formed externally of coarse grass into cavities 

 about four inches in diameter. The lining was fine dried 

 grass, and both nests were so artfully sheltered that only 

 by looking directly into the entrance could the bird-seeker 

 discover the cozy homes. Oncelfound a nest of the meadow 

 lark in a road, not more than ten feet from the wagon 

 track, in an alluring tuft of grass. The meadow lark 

 seems to be fond of the meadows and unbroken areas in 

 the suburbs of towns and villages, frequently nesting 

 within a few steps of the houses in suburban districts, and 

 always singing within sound of such outlying homes. 



About the 1st of August the meadow larks become 

 silent and more retiring in their habits, losing much of 

 their former animation and familiarity. In our early 

 August rambles over the meadows we frequently miss the 



