Gbe UWarbler 



21 



Neither is it at all common upon the meadows that occur, infrequently, 

 along the " washes." He, then, that would study this dainty little drab 

 must armor himself against the " stings and arrows " of the prickly pear; 

 and thread his devious and finicky way among the be-browsed and bristley 

 stretches of black sage. Here, in breeding time, haunts the Horned Lark 

 of the desert; however much the weedy margins of the winding stage -and- 

 sheep-wagon roads may tempt him, during the stress of the dead times of the 

 year. 



Three tiicks of cunning choice, equally wonderful and admirable, were 



NO. I — NEST OF DESERT HORNED I, \RK NEAR MASS OF HORSE MANURE 



learned, aeons ago, by Desert Horned Lark ancestors and ancestresses; with 

 reference to the needs and the dangers of the nesting time. The hoof of 

 the antelope and the bison were deadly perils once, though vanished, long 

 ago; and the prairie dog, the adder and the whilom hawk are even yet proof 

 against no less formidable a fending than that of the cactus thorns and mi- 

 croscopic barbs: where eggs are to be found. 



Yet antelope, undoubtedly, and bison, would refuse to graze, closely, 

 where droppings of the bison were lying; even as it is with cattle and horses, 



