COUES ON BIRDS OF DAKOTA AND MONTANA. 



603 



is a light, dry, rustling structure, swaying with the motion of the reed 

 to which it is affixed, built of the same materials as those which sup- 

 port it, which are woven and plaited together ; no mud is used, nor is 

 there any special lining ; the brim is thick and somewhat folded over, 

 like the seam of a garment; but I never saw a nest, among the many 

 examined, which was arched over, as stated by some authors. The 

 diameter outside is 5 or 6 inches, and the depth nearly as much. From 

 three to six eggs or young birds were found in different nests; the 

 former measure from about an inch and an eighth in length by three- 

 fourths in breadth. The ground-color is grayish-green ; this is thickly 

 spotted with different shades of reddish -brown, sometimes so profusely 

 that the ground-color is obscured, especially at the larger end. 



Since I stated, in the " Birds of the Northwest ", that I had not then 

 seen the species on the Missouri higher up than Leavenworth, I observed 

 it above Buford during the season of 1874. 



List of specimens. 



STUENELLA MAGNA NEGLECT A, Aud. 



Western Meadow Lark. 



All the Meadow Larks observed in this region, even at Pembina, where 

 the fauna is so thoroughly Eastern, were typical neglecta. They are a 

 common bird of the whole country, though perhaps less numerous as we 

 approach the Eocky Mountains, in the very arid Milk Eiver region. 

 They are fond of good soil, and seemed to me to be scarcely so abundant, 

 even in the Eed Eiver region, as I had observed them to be in more fer- 

 tile portions of Southwestern Dakota, as the vicinity of Fort Eandall, 

 for example, and thence to Sioux City. They reach this part of the 

 country early in April. Toward the end of June, in the region above 



