THE PACIFIC HORNED LARK. 



219 



delirium of unfettered l)liss do ntV almut six miles in twice as many minutes, 

 with a Horned Lark, flying low, as the invariable object of his chase. When 

 to sucli conditions as these was added the .scantiness of cover, one marveled 

 indeed that the datty Horned Lark still persisted upon his ancient heritage. 



Vet on the i itli of April ( the earliest record by far ), in the barest of it, 

 we marked a deep rounded cavity which Mr. Bowles declared belonged to the 

 Streaked Horned Lark. Returning on the 27th, we found that the hole in 

 the ground had be- 

 come a bumi) in- 

 stead. The bird, 

 grown callous amid 

 the impending evils, 

 or else frankly in- 

 tending to warn off 

 trespassers, had filletl 

 the cavity full to 

 overflowing, and ha<l 

 erected upon its site 

 a monumental pile 

 visible at a hundred 

 3'ards. So zealous 

 had the bird's efforts 

 been that the crest 

 of the nest stuck uj) 

 two and a half inches 

 above the close- 

 cropped landscajjc, 

 and the bottom of 

 the nest was abo\e 

 the ground. This 

 creation was fjuite 

 ten inches across, 

 wdiile it inckided 

 upon its skirts bits 



of sod, cow-chips and pebbles, — a motley array. ])ossiblv designed to distract 

 attention from the dun-colored eggs which the nest contained. The most 

 lavish display f)f this sort of brumagem marked a runway of ap])roacli, ofTset 

 by a corresponding depression upon the other side. The nest was composed 

 chiefly of dried grasses and weed-stalks with soft dead leaves, and was lined, 

 not very carefully, witli grass, dried leaves. ;uid a single white chicken-feather.* 



t^B^^^K^^^^^^^U 



Takcu at South Tacon 



Photo by Dawson and Bo-.itcs. 



THE NEST ON THE GOLF LINKS. 



arkahic nest was forbidden Ijy tin 



aking of a ncgatii 



