96 iVESTS AXD EGGS OF BIRDS. 



the most beseeching and phiintive manner. " No attempt to 

 deceive b}' feigning lameness was noticed, but several pairs 

 breeding near one another were usually aroused, and joined 

 their cries with those of the afflicted parents. 



In central Colorado, according to T. jVIartin Trippe, the 

 titlark arrives early in May, and by June has ascended to the 

 .summit of the range, and begins nesting almost as soon as the 

 grass comes up, incubation beginning in the first and second 

 weeks of July. The nest is placed under the shelter of a pro- 

 jecting stone, and is very neatly constructed of coarse grass 

 externally, lined with fine grass, and is about three and one-half 

 inches in diameter. 



The eggs are usually five in number; the grovmd color dark 

 brownish-purple, almost hidden by spots and splashes of pur- 

 plish-black. Eggs from different nests var)' somewhat in the 

 intensity of color, some being mucii lighter and grayer than 

 others, but the general aspect is alwa^ s quite dark. As one 

 approaches their nests the parents hover silently about, in deep 

 anxiety. 



The European ^STeadow Pipit {Aut/ais pratcfisis^ No. 55 

 his) is occasionally taken as a straggler into Greenland, and 

 may now and then breed among the heather there. 



[PI. VII, Fig. 55.] 



56. THE MISSOURI SKYLARK. 



NEOCORYS SPRAGUEI (And.) Sclater. 

 Sprague's Lark, or Pipit; Missouri Lark. 



This is a true bird ff the plains and particularly numerous 

 on the upper Missouri a//d Tello-jcstone where it breeds; but, 

 its nest, like that of other prairie birds necessarily builduig 

 on the ground, is exceedingly difficult to find, exposing 

 nothing which can catch your eye. Vou may see a pair 

 hovering over the same spot (\i\\ after day in ''painful agitation," 



