468 ORNITHOLOGY. 



spread denudation of the forests, the country thus undergoing a physical 

 change favorable to the habits of the species, having already become a 

 regular summer resident in many sections of the country north of the Ohio. 

 It was not noticed in Ohio, so far as the records show, previous to 1860, 

 when Mr. J. M. Wheaton first observed it in the vicinity of Columbus, near 

 the central portion of the State, and "since which time it has increased in 

 numbers, and at present (1874) is not uncommon." [See Coues' Birds of 

 the Northwest, p. 234.] Single specimens have already been taken in 

 Massachusetts and Florida, where, in course of time, the species may be- 

 come established. 



The Lark Sparrow is essentially a prairie bird, although it prefers 

 semi-wooded districts to the open prairies. It is equally common in the 

 Sacramento Valley and in southern Illinois, inhabiting in each case places 

 which are neither completely wooded nor entirely destitute of trees, and 

 evincing a marked preference for localities where oak-groves alternate with 

 meadow-lands and cultivated fields ; and in its great abundance in the 

 widely-separated disti'icts named above, particularly when taken into con- 

 sideration with its association in both with such species as Tkrijomanes 

 bewlcki, Dendroeca cestiva, Icteria virens, CoUurio excubitoroides, Chrt/somitris 

 tristis, Coturnicidus passerinus, Melospisa fasciata, Spizella socialis, Guiraca 

 ccerulea, etc., adds to the marked similarity in the general fades of the 

 avifaunse of the two localities, the difierence between them consisting in the 

 possession by each of a small percentage of representative species and a 

 very few peculiar forms.^ 



The habits of this bird are chiefly terrestrial, since it lives mostly on 

 the ground, where it may often be seen walking'^ gracefully along or hop- 

 ping in the usual manner of Sparrows ; the male ascending to a fence-post, 

 the top of a small tree, or other prominent object, during the delivery of 

 his song. Its habits in this respect vary greatly, however, it being quite 

 arboreal in some localities, as was conspicuously the case at Sacramento, 



' See pages 328-332. 



^ It may uot be generally known that many of the terrestrial Friugillidae are walk- 

 ers as well as hoppers. We have often seen both this species ■Aiu\,Mclospiza fasciata 

 walking on the ground with a step as firm and graceful as that of a IMeadow Lark or 

 Blackbird. 



