176 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



liiin from the earth's surface. After having travelled in qnest of them, to 

 no purpose, to many distant parts of the prairies, he at last discovered thiit 



these sounds proceeded from several 

 of these birds soaring at so great an 

 elevation as to make them difficult to 

 discover by the eye, even in the trans- 

 parent atmosphere of tliat country. 



They are described as running grace- 

 fully on the ground, at times squat- 

 ting to observe the movements of tlie 

 intruders, and again elevating their 

 Meocor7js spraguei. bodics as if to uicct their approach. 



Eising from the ground, they tiy in an undulating manner, so that it is 

 extremely difficult to shoot them on the wing. They continue thus to Hy 

 in increasing circles until about a hundred yards high, when they begin to 

 sing. After a while, suddenly closing their wings, they drop to the ground. 

 They could be easily approached in a light wagon, and in this manner 

 several specimens were obtained. 



Captain Blakiston (Ibis, V. Gl) found this Skylark common on the praiiies 

 of the Saskatchewan during the breeding-season. He first met with it on 

 the 6th of May, near Fort Carlton. WJien disturbed from the grass, its 

 usual haunt, it utters a single chirp, and immediately mounts in the air l)y 

 a circuitous course, with a very undulating flight, to a great height, where 

 M'ith outstretched wings it soars in a peculiar manner, and utters a very 

 striking song. This is described as consisting of a (piick succession of 

 notes, in a descending scale, each note being lower than the preceding. Tlie 

 bird then descends to the ground with great rapidity, almost like a stone, 

 and somewhat in the manner of a hawk swooping on its prey. It Avas 

 difficult of approach, and not easily killed. He also observed these birds in 

 Xorthern Minnesota, May 4, 1859. 



A nest of this bird was built on the ground and placed in a hollow. It 

 was made of fine grasses interwoven into a circular form, but without any 

 lining. The eggs were four or five in number, an oblong oval in shape, mucli 

 pointed at one end, and measuring .87 of an inch in length by .63 in breadth. 

 Their ground-color was a dull white, so minutely dotted with a grayish- 

 purple as to give the whole egg a homogeneous appearance, as of that 

 uniform color. 



The young larks, soon after being hatched, followed their parents on the 

 ground, and were fed with seeds of the smaller plants and with insects. 

 They had already begun to associate in small flocks of from eight to a dozen 

 before the party left, and on tlie 16t]i of August had commenced theii' 

 southern migrations. 



