64 THE LARK SPARROW. 
DUSTY roadsides, sunny pastures and areas of broken ground harbor 
this plainly colored bird from the time of its late arrival in spring until the 
young are ready to fly. As the heat of summer increases the birds retire to the 
seclusion of sparsely wooded pastures or fence-row thickets. 
The males sing upon arrival, selecting for this purpose a station upon the 
summit of some outlying tree. ‘The song is best described in the words of 
Mr. Ridgway who had ample opportunity to study it in Illinois and the ex- 
treme West, and who has done more than anyone else to bring the bird into 
Taken near McC onnelsville. Photo by the Author. 
NEST AND EGGS OF THE LARK SPARROW. 
well-deserved prominence. He says': ‘This song is composed of a series of 
chants, each syllable rich, loud and clear, interrupted with emotional trills. 
At the beginning the song reminds one somewhat of that of the Indigo Bird 
( Passerina cyanea) but the notes are louder and more metallic, and their deliv- 
ery more vigorous. Though seemingly hurried, it is one continuous gush of 
sprightly music; now gay, now melodious, and then tender beyond description, 
—the very expression of emotion. At intervals the singer falters, as if ex- 
hausted by exertion, and his voice becomes scarcely audible; but suddenly 
1 “Birds of Illinois,’’ Vol I, p. 262. 
