14 Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



to five. The eggs average .85 by .62 of an inch in length 

 and breadth. Second broods are often reared in this sec- 

 tion, and hence the breeding season is frequently pro- 

 longed from the middle of March to the end of June. 



After the arrival of the mating season the birds are seen 

 either singly or in solitary pairs. This association of the 

 birds in pairs is most noticeable in February and March. 

 The larks seek their living chiefly in the roads at this 

 time, and their familiarity with man is akin to the fear- 

 lessness with which they regard the approach of a vehicle. 

 Sometimes they step aside to give place to it without 

 taking flight, and often they are so close that they 

 can be reached with, the driver's whip. When they fly 

 upon being disturbed, they remain together and otherwise 

 manifest all the devotion of a pair of young lovers. 



The food habits of the horned larks have been partially 

 investigated by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and 

 a paper upon the subject was published in the Eeport of 

 the Secretary of Agriculture, 1892. From the paper we 

 conclude that the birds are highly beneficial, though they 

 had been suspected of causing some damage in the wheat- 

 fields. The author of the paper, Prof. Walter B. Barrows, 

 states that from the evidence at hand he is not warranted 

 in believing that horned larks do any appreciable damage 

 to grain crops. They may pick up some lately sown 

 grain or grass seed which has been left uncovered, but the 

 loss thus caused must be trifling. Their evident services 

 in the consumption of the seeds of such pests as pigweed, 

 bitterweed, amaranth, sorrel, pigeon grass or foxtail, 

 bindweed, knotweed, smartweed, and other weeds of sim- 

 ilar character, certainly more than compensate for the 

 trivial damage they may be suspected of causing, and 

 hence they are entitled to the respect and protection of 

 every agriculturist. 



The prairie horned lark ranges throughout the upper 

 Mississippi Valley and the region about the Great Lakes, 

 tending northward and eastward. Eastern Iowa seems 

 to be' the center of its western distribution, and North- 

 western New York is probably the center of its eastern 

 distribution. 



