92 ^TESTS AND EGGS OF BIRDS. 



June, but in mild seasons begins nesting even earlier. The 

 winter of 1877-8 was mild here, as elsewhere, and the spring 

 opened nearly a month earlier than usual. On jVIarch 18, of 

 this year, I found a nest in a sheltered locality containing three 

 young birds, about a day old. The pair must have built their 

 nest in the first week of March. On the 13th of the same month, 

 two other nests contained incomplete sets of eggs. On the 

 2 1st, one nest was found luifinished and another containing three 

 young birds. These occurrences seem singular, but the nature 

 of the weather at that time justified them, and they only serve 

 to exemplify the readiness of this bird to nest at the first possi- 

 ble opportunity. 



The lark is essentially a prairie-breeding bird. Sandy 

 places where the grass is short, or almost absent, are favorite 

 resorts, and often a barren, loose sand-knoll will be the home 

 of several pairs. In accordance with its common habit of 

 frequenting roads for a large portion of its food, the nests, four 

 times out of five, are placed near the roadside and almost al- 

 ways in the centre, or beside a deposit of dry and bleached 

 cow-ordure. I attribute this situation to a protective instinct ; 

 since the color of the weather-dried manure resembles very 

 closely that of the upper surface of the female. As a rule, this 

 bird avoids building under any sheltering vegetation. The 

 nest is sunk in the ground to the rim ; or, in most cases, it might 

 be more properly described as a shallow, cup-shaped cavity 

 lined with grass, small bits of weeds, fine roots and similar 

 materials. The lining of the nest is finer grasses, pappus-bear- 

 ing composites, and occasionally a few feathers ; the lining 

 however, does not seem to be a particular matter. The sides 

 are thick but are so loosely constructed that it is very difli- 

 cult to move the structure from its cavity, and next to im- 

 possible to presei-ve entire the natural shape. 



The eggs of the shore lark are from three to five in number. 

 Usually but three are laid early in the season, while five is the 

 usual clutch in May and June. The ground-color is dull or 

 olivaceous- white, densely marked all over with dots and blotches 

 of dull brown. Some specimens have a very few irregular 



