10 Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



amoDg the roots of the dried grass, again to run forward 

 a few feet, and again stopping to feed among the rootlets. 

 I have frequently seen a horned lark run nimbly for many 

 feet over the naked ground and pick up morsels of food, 

 such as fallen seeds and grain, without stopping in its 

 course, a power I have seen exercised by no other bird. 



The story of the horned larks should begin with the 

 time when autumn silences the voices of many of our 

 summer friends and the chill north wind drives to south- 

 ern lands hosts of the birds whose manners endeared 

 them to us in the departed season. Then the well-known 

 notes, almost unheard in the late summer months, are 

 wafted to our ears on some bright morning in early Oc- 

 tober, and we search the blue dome to discover the forms 

 of the larks as they flit in irregular, undulating move- 

 ment high over the meadows. Sometimes alone, gener- 

 ally in groups of two or three, frequently in flocks of ten 

 to twenty, and occasionally by hundreds, they pass to and 

 fro, heralding their progress by their frequent twittering, 

 usually flying high until they dart down suddenly to 

 alight in meadow, ploughed field, or feed-yards which 

 lure them with the scattered grain. 



Though a few of these birds remain among us in Cen- 

 tral Illinois during the summer months, many of them 

 retire northward with the melting snow, and others after 

 their broods are reared, to return in the regular fall 

 migration. For a few days subsequent to their autumnal 

 appearance they are very restless, taking wing soon after 

 alighting, but gradually discovering more familiarity and 

 boldness. The newly-sown wheatlands, thinly covered 

 with the short green blades, allure the uneasy visitors, 

 and many alight to feed in such fields, generally advanc- 

 ing over the area in comparatively close order, and taking 

 flight on reaching a fence or hedge. The evident prefer- 

 ence of these larks for fields of young wheat has sug- 

 gested for the species the local name of "wheatbird." 

 Pastures in which cattle and hogs are being fattened for 

 market are favorite resorts for the larks, as the refuse 

 grain constitutes a large part of their food. Late in the 

 winter, when the wheatfields are blanketed with snow, 

 the larks may be found congregating along warm southern 



