167 
almost to surpass belief—a phenomenon which 
has no parallel among any other feathered tribes 
on the face of the earth, that Naturalists are 
acquainted with. The chief food of the Passenger 
Pigeon is beech mast, with numerous other 
erains and fruits, among which is to be counted 
rice, a favourite article with them. They have two 
or three broods in the year, and their breeding 
places are generally in beech woods. Their nest, 
which is very slight, is composed of a few twigs 
rudely woven into a platform, and so loosely con- 
structed that the egos and young can be seen from 
below. The eggs, according to Audubon, are not 
more than two in number, and of a pure white. 
ELE MEADOW “PrPrT: 
Lark, or TIrnark. 
ANTHUS PRATENSIS, lem. 
This species is so generally distributed as to be 
very common in many countries, occurring in the 
interior as well as on the coast, and frequenting 
wet meadows, moors, commons, and pasture lands. 
Tn winter it becomes occasionally gregarious, and 
betakes itself to marshy places open to the sea- 
shore. Like the Wagtail, it runs with celerity, 
and feeds upon flies, worms, and other insects. It 
