Across the Fields. 259 



The nesting of the Horned Lark and the Prairie Horned Lark is essen- 

 tially the same. They breed on the ground much after the manner of some 

 of the sparrows, the nest being sunk in the surrounding ground or turf. It 

 is built of grasses and weed stalks. The eggs are pale buff or olive thickly 

 speckled with brown and cinnamon of varying shades. Those of the Prairie 

 Horned Lark are rather more than nine tenths of an inch long and about two 

 thirds of an inch broad. The eggs of the Horned Lark are slightly larger. 



The Skylark of Europe and Asia has been recorded as an accidental 

 straggler in Greenland and Bermuda. Efforts have also been made to intro- 

 duce it, at sundry times and in various places, in the United 

 Skylark. States. So far as known these attempts have been, on 



Alauda arvensis Linn. 



the whole, unsuccessful. 



The Skylark is about seven inches and a half long. It is light brownish 

 above, streaked with black, noticeably on the back. There is a whitish 

 stripe above the eye, and the general color of the lower parts is white ; this 

 color shades into reddish buff on the breast, which is distinctly striped with 

 black. The sides and flanks are more or less buffy streaked with dusky. 



The birds nest in grassy fields or meadows, on the ground. The eggs 

 are dull white, buffy or brown in tone, thickly speckled with brown. They 

 are nearly nine tenths of an inch long and two thirds of an inch broad. 



The Alder Flycatcher is an ally of the Traill's Flycatcher of the Western 

 States. It is found during its migrations throughout Eastern North America 



_, as far west as Michigan, and north to New Brunswick. 



Alder Flycatcher. T . . _ T f _ , , 



Empidonax traiiiHainorum It breeds from JN orthern New England northward, and 



winters in Central America. 



It is the largest and brownest of the birds of this group, being at least 

 six inches long. 



The upper parts are olive brown with a slight greenish tone. The 

 under parts are grayish white, darker on the breast and sides, and faintly 

 yellowish on the belly. The throat is pure white. The wing bars are gray- 

 ish brown. 



This bird frequents, during the breeding season, open bushy fields, 

 where alders grow along streams. The nest is built in some bush or sapling 

 near to the ground. It is generally placed in a fork or crotch, and is built of 



