ALAUDID.E — THE LARKS. 145 



Dall only obtained n sin<j;lo skin on the Yukon, it ]irobal)ly is not common 

 tliere. Dr. Suckley states it to be a very abundant summer resident on the 

 gravelly prairies near Fort Steilaeoom, in Wasliingtou Territory, lie describes 

 it as a tame, unsusiiicious bird, allowing,' a man to ai)])roacli within a lew I'eet 

 of it. It is essentially a ground bird, rarely alighting on busiies or shrubs. 



Dr. Coo^jcr adds to this that the Sliore Lark is c-ommon in the interior, but 

 he only noticed one on t'.ie coast border. In ordinary seasons tht;, , am to 

 be permanent residents, and in winter to be both more gregarious and more 

 conmion. He met with one as liite as July 1, on a gravelly plain near 

 Olympia, scratcliing out a hollow lor its nest under a tvissock of grass. 



Dr. Cooper also found these birds around Fort JMohave in considerable 

 flocks about tlie end of February, but ali liad left the valley by the end of 

 Marcli. About May 21) he found numbers of them towards the summits of 

 the Providence range of mountains, west of the valley, and not far from four 

 thousand feet above it, where they probably had nests. They were also 

 common in July on the cooler plains towards the ocean, so that they doubt- 

 less breed in many of the southern portions of California, as well as at 

 I'uget Sound and on the (ireat Plains. Dr. Cooper states that in May or 

 June the males rise almost perpendicularly into tlie air, until almost out of 

 sight, and Hy around in an irregular circle, singing a sweet and varied song 

 for several minutes, when they descend nearly to the spot from wliich tliey 

 started. Their nests were usually ibund in a small dejaession of the ground, 

 often under a tui't of grass or a bush. Mr. Nuttall started a Shore Lark from 

 her nest, on the plains, near the banks of the Platte. It was in a small de- 

 pression on the ground, and was made of bent grass, and lined with coar.se 

 bison-hair. The eggs were olive-white, minutely spotted all over with a 

 darker tinge. 



According to Audubon, these Larks breed al)undantly on the high and 

 dejiolate granite tracts that aboun^l along the. coast of Labrador Tliese 

 rocks are covered with large patches of mosses and lichens. In the midst 

 of these this ])ird places lier nest, disposed with so nnich care, and the moss 

 so much resembling the bird in hue, that the nests are not readily noticed. 

 Wiien flushed from her nest, she flutters away, feigning lameness so cuiniingly 

 as to deceive almost any one not on his guard. The male at once joins 

 her, and both utter the most soft and plaintive notes of woe. The nest is 

 embedded in the moss to its edges, and is composed of fine grasses, circularly 

 disposed and forming a bed about two inches thick. It is lined with the 

 feathers of the grouse and of other birds. Tlie eggs, deposited early in July, 

 are four or five in number, and are described by Mr. Audubon as markeil 

 with bluish as well as brown spots. 



About a week before they can fly, the young leave the nest, and follow 

 tlieir parents over these beds of mosses to be fed. Tliey run nind)ly, and 

 squat closely at tlic first approacli of danger. If observed and jjursued, they 

 open their wings and flutter off with great celerity. 

 vol,, u. 19 



