THE HORNED LARK. 89 



graphical races, tliosc from Kansas westward, south of, say, 

 the Phitte river, being- known as Variety crysol^ma, No. 

 53(7/ and those north of the Fhitte, from Wisconsin westward, 

 coming into Variety leucol.ema, No. 53/;. 



For the purposes of oology, we may take both these varieties 

 as one, since their nidification presents no tangible distinctions. 

 The western horned larks, therefore, may be said to breed from 

 Michigan and Illinois westward to the Pacific coast, north- 

 ward perhaps to Alaska, and southward throughout the high- 

 lands of Mexico. Over much of this region the species is 

 nearly stationary, and it is exceedingly abundant on the dry 

 plains. 



The western larks appear to nestle very early in Illinois ; 

 "sometimes the last of February, and regularly during March 

 and April, the first set of eggs is deposited, and early in May 

 the fully fledged young commence to appear." Dates in my 

 possession for that state are March 4, April 15, May 24, and 

 July 2, the latter w ith embryos ; for central Michigan I have 

 the dates April 29, May i and 3 ; for Wisconsin, April 15 ; in 

 Iowa, Mr. Allen shot fully fledged young. May 25. On the 

 contrary, records from the Utah basin, the high northern 

 plains and the Pacific slope, show no eggs found earlier than 

 June, except J. K. Lord's mention of their earlv nesting on the 

 Columbia, with second broods in July. 



Their favorite resorts are the dry and gravelly plains, or, east 

 of the Mississippi, open pastures and stubble fields. There 

 they scratcli a hollow in the ground in some suitable spot, and 

 line the cavity with a rude bed of grass and weeds, making an 

 inartistic nest, with walls an inch thick and no special lining. 



The ground-tint of the eggs is a varying grayish clay-color, 

 which is tliickly, minutely, and uniformly flecked w'ith light 

 brown ; but in some specimens there is a decided agglomera- 

 tion of the spots into blotches forming a wreath about the larger 

 end, with touches of purplish intermingled. Perhaps it is 

 true that Labradoi eggs(as, indeed, might be expected )rule 

 larger than western specimens, but in respect to markings there 

 is no appreciable difference. 



