1913 BIRDS OF THE FRESNO DISTRICT 63 



devoted to grain farming, the California Horned Lark was one of the most 

 abundant birds to be found in the district ; but it has not responded favorably to 

 the settlement of the country and is now rare in many parts of the valley. It is 

 still to be found in numbers along the west side plains, and wherever tracts of 

 land are to be found that have not been planted to trees or vines. The barren, 

 uncultivated, alkaline plains southwest of the city now afford a home for the 

 majority of our Horned Larks, while the foothill ranges to the east are proving 

 attractive to a goodly host also. This species did not abandon without protest 

 the areas it had occupied f'^r so long, remaining even when section after section 

 had been converted into vineyards ; but when the vines had attained a growth of 

 two or three years the ground was covered to such an extent that the larks were 

 forced to withdraw. It seems that for feeding and nesting these birds must have 

 dry, barren ground almost free from shrubbery. Scattered out in pairs during 

 the breeding season, these larks often gather in immense numbers throughout 

 the winter. 



In driving along the road toward the river I have sometimes observed a 

 Horned Lark in the shade of every fence post for miles at a time during the mid- 

 day hours. It is interesting to watch these little birds at their pre-nuptial antics. 

 Especially is this the case during the warm, bright, sunshiny days in February, 

 when a male will frequently perch on a clod and pour forth his song time after 

 time in a wiry, mechanical sort of way, beginning with a squeaky "chick-chink- 

 chick,'' slowly at first but becoming more rapid until it ends in a sort of trill. If 

 approached too closely the vocalist will reluctantly leave his clod and strut awav 

 across the ploughed ground in a dignified manner, but he seldom goes far and 

 will at once return and begin again his monotonous song as soon as the intruder 

 has passed by. 



At times the enthusiasm of these little creatures carries them far above the 

 earth, where they pour forth their song in true Skylark fashion as they mount 

 higher and higher until they become mere specks or have disappeared entirely. 

 In a short time, however, they come tumbling earthward again, generally alight- 

 ing within a few feet of the place from which they took wing. 



In the fall and winter the immense flocks of these birds that sometimes as- 

 semble in stubble fields break into the wildest confusion at the appearance of a 

 Marsli Hawk, until the air seems to swarm with dozens of the birds, each calling 

 in their squeaky way. 



I have never been able to satisfy myself as to whether more than one brood 

 is reared in a season, but have about decided that in some cases two families are 

 raised. However, the center of my field of observations has been in the highly 

 cultivated districts where it is quite probable that not a few of the earlier nests 

 are destroyed by cultivation and the larks compelled to deposit second sets, while, 

 under ordinary circumstances, only one set would be laid. As it has not been 

 possible to determine, with any degree of accuracy, which of the sets found were 

 of second laying I shall enumerate some of the nests found and allow the reader 

 to draw his own conclusions. 



Nests of this species are built most often in summer-fallow fields, but some- 

 times in very young vineyards, hay fields from which the crop has been cut, and 

 on the uncultivated plains. Sometimes they are found at the base of a clod or a 



