282 MousLEY, Breeding of the Prairie Horned Lark. [j^y 



lookout for it for some few years previously. It is the earliest of 

 the small song birds to nest, eggs having been found in some parts 

 of western New York in late February and early March, but here 

 judging from the four nests I was fortunate enough to find, the date 

 for fresh sets appears to be from the second to the third week in 

 April, at which time the ground is generally more or less covered 

 with snow. Such was the case when I found the first nest on April 

 14 only 240 yards from my house, in a dry undulating field. It 

 was a most interesting one in every way, composed outwardly of 

 soft dry grasses, and heavily lined inside with the plant down and 

 flower heads of the Pearly Everlasting {Anaphalis margaritacea). 

 The hole in which it rested had partly been scooped out in a bed of 

 Hair-cap moss {Polytrichum commune) which formed the back and 

 sides, the front or south side being clear and the ground sloping 

 gently away. Some little portion of this sloping ground right up 

 to the edge of the nest had been banked up and paved with small 

 pieces of cow-chips varjdng in size from f X | inch to If X 1 inch. 

 From a careful count made of these I found there were 49 in all, 

 besides 8 small pieces of lichen. I am not aware that anything 

 has been written on this subject of paving with regard to the present 

 species, but Prof. Silloway in his ' Birds of Fergus County, Mon- 

 tana, ' 1903, I believe first made the fact known to science in the 

 case of the Desert Horned species; and the Rev. P. B. Peabody in 

 a most interesting article in 'The Warbler' (Vol. 2, 1906, pages 20- 

 27) substantiates the fact, and gives a photo of a nest of the Desert 

 Horned Lark showing this paving. In this same article he goes 

 on to say " It was impossible however to conjecture wdiether or no 

 such clods had been added at varying times after the first com- 

 pleting of the nest." This point as we shall see later on I am glad 

 to be able to clear up, at least so far as regards the one case that 

 came under my notice of the Prairie Horned Lark. I ought 

 perhaps to mention here that it was during the winter of 1914 that 

 I read the above article, and when I found the nest already men- 

 tioned above, the thought occurred to me that now was my chance 

 perhaps of finding out at what time during building operations 

 these chips were added. With this object in view I decided to take 

 the set of four eggs and keep a very careful watch on the birds 

 afterwards, in the hope of catching them at their second venture. 



