XLVIII 



PEAIEIE HOENED LAEK 

 474. Otocoris alpestris praticola 



The scientific description- for identification of this 

 bird is entirely too long for a short treatise on birds, 

 such as this book is intended to be. 



In a general way the Prairie Horned Lark resembles 

 a Field Sparrow. It is about seven and one-half inches 

 long and is marked by a grayish back, and a pale yel- 

 low on the throat; the under parts are white and there 

 is a black streak across the forehead, ending on each 

 side in a feathery horn; a black bar extends from the 

 upper bill through the eye. 



The nesting habits of the Prairie Horned Lark are 

 very different from those of the Sparrow. The Lark is 

 one of the very earliest birds to build its nest and rear 

 its young; it has a broad stretch of territory for its 

 range, breeding from Indiana to the Rocky Mountains 

 and from Texas to Canada. (Fig. 74.) The nest is a 

 depression in the ground, lined with fine grass. The eggs 

 are four in number and are of a dark drab color, marked 

 with splotches of brown. 



Early in March, if you should be playing golf or 

 strolling across a pasture on a gentle sloping hillside 

 toward the east or south, where the early spring sunshine 

 has melted the snowbanks and thawed the frozen soil, 

 and should behold two little birds running along on the 

 ground, pausing every few feet to look at you, then tak- 

 ing wing, flying in a circle and dropping near the spot 

 from which you flushed them, busying themselves in a 

 most indifferent manner gathering grass seed, you would 

 be quite safe in the guess that these same birds were 

 Prairie Horned Larks. Then, if you should look about 

 and find a little grass-lined cup in the ground, you could 

 be sure of the identity of the owners of the nest. 



I have set my camera olirectly over the incubating 

 bird and made her picture without disturbing her. (Fig. 



148 



