489 

 LARK FINCH. *^ 



DIMEXSIONi: 



AvDvage mensurements of twenty four speoimea*. Longth, Grid: stretch, 10-95; wing, 2-65; tail, 2-85; bill, -53. tars^us, 

 •Tri. Longast specimen, 075; greatest extent of wing, IICO; li.ngc?t wing, 3-75; tail, 2-G5; bill, 55; tai-su.s, -72 Shortest 

 spociuK-n, 5-75; fuiallest extent of wing, !)-75; shortest wing, 2-75; tail, 2-78; bill, -50; tareus, ^O. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Ncsis, placed on the ground or in trees, composed c f gi-asses and weeds lined with fine grass, fibrous roots and horse-hair. 

 Dimensions; external diameter, 4'00, internal, 2'75. External depth, 2'00, internal, I'OO. 



-K'/.VS, four to six in number, rather round in form, white in color, marked with faint spots of lilac, lined and blotched 

 with brown and umber. These lines are irregular in width and are deposited in a similar manner to those of the Orioles 

 I'.nd ];iackbirds to wl.idi they bear a much closer resemblance than to those of other SpaiTOWs or Finches. Dimensions 

 f/ui:i ""Jx'GS. to 'SSxwO. 



HABITS. 



As I liavc never been fortunate enough to meet with the Lark Finch while living 1 

 •herewith give an account of its habits kindly written for me by Mr. Ilenshaw who has had 

 considerable experience with the species in the West. 



"The Lark Finch, one of the finest of our Sparrows, with its trim shape and tastefully 

 arranged colors, is in certain sections of the West one of the most abundant of birds. In 

 the I'^ast all our Sparrows are, without regard to season, to a very considerable extent ar- 

 borcrd in their habits, even the species which are most terrestrial having an evident love 

 for the hedge-rows and thickets, far from which they do not venture, and into which they 

 always scud with chirp and flutter when danger threatens. The Lark Finch lives in the 

 more open country and is therefore less dependent upon such shelter, often indeed prefer- 

 ring the prairie itself or the bare plain for an abode. In this very taste is probably to bo 

 found the reason why the bird has thus fiir chosen to absent itself from the East which it 

 has hithcrt) found too thickly wooded for its notions. 



"Not that it entirely disdains the advantages to be found in the wooded tracts, for in- 

 deed at times, as in the late spring, it quite abandons prairies and open fields and betakes 

 itself to the copses, especially those fringing the streams. And if we seek it in its fa- 

 vorite home it will be found to combine in something like equal proportions the advantages 

 of either kind of locality. 



"It is certain to attract attention wherever we may chance to meet it, more particu- 

 larly should it be the vernal season, which with our Finch is about the fifteenth of May 

 at which time the males are in the full rivalry which the love season inspires. They arc 

 then in small companies which consist of both sexes with, however, a preponderance of 

 males each of whom strives to bring his superior claims to the notice of the females. As a 

 result each little thicket is witness to many a scene of jealous contest, sometimes of song, 

 at other times of open battle, for the males are at this time extremely pugnacious. It is 

 now that our Finch is to be heard at its best, and in its power of song it certainly need fear 

 no rival in its own family. The song consists of a succession of clear liquid notes, freely 

 interspersed with trills, the whole flowing forth to make a full chant which is as beautiful 

 as it is indescribable. Nor, as is the case with some, I had almost said with most, of our 

 prominent singers, is the Lark Finch at all chary of its melody. The songs of some of the 

 very best performers are often marred by their broken and disjointed character, even while 



liir.DS OF I-LORlDi. 11 



