OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 367 



It is seldom that the hen bird can be detected 

 on the nest. When alarmed by approaching 

 .danger, there is no sudden uprising or whirring 

 of wings. Aware of imminent peril, she quietly 

 slips out of the nest, and noiselessly winds her 

 way through the thicket of grasses, along a well- 

 beaten path which had been made for the purpose. 

 The male is seldom observed. In case of moles- 

 tation of the nest, not the slightest fuss is made. 



The young leave the nest when fifteen days old, 

 and in ten days are prepared to support them- 

 selves. In the autumn the birds collect inr small 

 Hocks, and thus retire to the south, where among 

 the salt marshes of Alabama, and West Florida, 

 according to Mr. Nuttall, they seek food and shelter. 

 In England, individuals of this species have oc- 

 curred, so says Mr. Sclater. 



The eggs are oval, and have reddish-brown spots 

 upon a white ground-color. These spots are 

 mostly equally diffused; occasionally they are 

 mainly found about the larger extremity. The 

 eggs vary much in size, the smallest coining from 

 Florida, and the largest from Massachusetts. In 

 Eastern Pennsylvania the ordinary measurement 

 is i .18 by .82 of an inch. 



The variations that exist in the eggs of the 

 Meadow Lark are doubtless due to the difference 

 in the age of the parents, and also to the circum- 

 stances under which the eggs are deposited. 

 Those of old, mature birds, laid in early summer, or 

 the first brood, are usually sub-globular or bluntly- 



