64 



NORTH AMKllICAN BIRDS. 



of this species is altoijotlier of u difliMciit character, being a low gliding mo- 

 tion, overtopping the weeds and husljes. That the birds were nesting at this 

 time is rendered still more probal)le by the fact that the males n(>ticed as we 

 passed along were out of all pr(>i)ortion, in numbers, to the females seen. 

 They were very heedless of api)roacli, and any number could have been 

 readily destroyed. I never saw any at Fort Whipple, or elsewhere in Ari- 

 zona, though Dr. Heerniann says that they are abundant in the southern 

 portions of the Territory, and specimens are recorded from Lower Califor- 

 nia." 



Mr. Allen found the Lark Huntinir one of the few birds that seemed 

 strictly confined to the arid ])lains near Fort Hays, in Kansas. He '.net with 

 it in gi-eat abundance, but only on the high ridges and dry i)late{ us, where 

 they seemed to live in colonies. He describes them as very wary, and very 

 tenacious of life, often Hying long distances, even after having been mortally 

 wounded. They seemed to delight to Hy in strong winds, when most other 

 birds ke[)t in shelter. They sing while on the wing, iiovering in the wind 

 and shaking the tail and legs after the well-known manner of the Yellow- 

 breasted Chat. Its song seemed to him to strongly resemble that of the 

 Chat, with which, at such times, its whole demeanor strikingly accorded. 



Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds collected in the survey on the 

 32d parallel, states that he first observed these birds on approaching the 

 Pimos villages. They were associatetl with large flocks of Sparrows, glean- 

 ing grain and grass-seed upon tlie ground. When started up they flew but 

 a short distance before tliey resumed their occupation. After crossing the 

 San Pedro he again found them in large flocks. At Fort Fillmore, in ^le- 

 silla Valley, it was also (piite conunon and associated with the Cowbird and 

 Blackbird, searching for grain among the stable oftals. He again met with 

 them in Texas, in the month of April, most of them still retaining their 

 winter coat. He descrilies the tremulous fluttering motion of the wings with 

 which the male accompanies its song while on the wing as very much after 

 the manner of the Bobolink, and he speaks of their song as a disconnected 

 Imt not an unmusical chant. He found their nests on the ground, made of 

 fine grasses, lined with hair, and in one instance he found the eggs spotted 

 with faint red dashes. 



At Gilmer, in Wyoming Territory, their nests were found by Mr. Durkee 

 built on the ground, and composed of dry grasses very loosely .arranged. 

 The eggs, four or five in number, are of a uniform and beautiful light shade 

 of blue, similar to those of the Fhspiza amcricana. They measure .90 by 

 .70 of an inch, are of a rounded-oval shape, and, so far as I have observed, 

 are entirely unspotted, although eggs with a few reddish blotches are said to 

 have been met with. 



