Aug. 1884.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



95 



and tail-feathers showing to excellent ad- 

 vantage. She had a curious way of tossing 

 herself into the air when about to fly, and 

 she would bound over the fields much like 

 the Golden- winged Woodpecker. The only 

 note we heard was between a squeal and 

 a grunt, and cannot well be described. 



Fearing that some expert ornithologist 

 may think this a case of " mistaken iden- 

 tity," I will add that the bird was shown 

 to a lady who has spent many seasons in 

 Florida and she unhesitatingly pronounced 

 it a Mockingbird. 



July 3, I received from a friend in De- 

 Land, Florida, an egg of this species which 

 was almost exactly like those that I col- 

 lected. I experienced a great degree of 

 satisfaction in writing to him that I had 

 just taken a set of Mockingbird's eggs 

 within four miles of my door. I would 

 like to know if the Mockingbird has ever 

 been known to breed in Connecticut be- 

 fore. — Chas. Edw. Prior, Jewett City, 

 Connecticut. 



The Shore Lark, (JEreniophila cormita.) 



The Shore Lark is one of our commonest 

 birds, remaining with us the year round. 

 It is rarely that a female Shore Lark is 

 seen in winter, according to my observa- 

 tions; the flocks consisting of males, 

 which are gregarious at that season. The 

 females arrive in March. 



They commence nesting about the 1st of 

 April. A nest found April 12th contained 

 three eggs, which were advanced in incu- 

 bation. One found May 1st was nearly 

 finished. During the night two or three 

 inches of snow had fallen, but the bird was 

 undaunted and went on with her work, 

 gathering nesting materials in places where 

 the snow had been cleared away. Another 

 nest found on the same day contained four 

 eggs; incubation commenced. In every 

 case the bird flew from her nest without a 

 note and commenced feeding in an uncon- 

 cerned manner. 



I made the following notes after watch- 



ing a pair for some time. The male bird 

 flew up to where I was sitting on the fence 

 and began to scold as if to drive me away. 

 Finding that did not succeed, he flew away 

 to a distant part of the fence and began to 

 sing as if to attract my attention in that 

 way, but I kept my eye on the female. 

 Soon she became restless and began to 

 move about, every little while sitting down 

 in a hollow between the tufts of grass as if 

 there was a nest there, but I was not de- 

 ceived by her manoeuvres. 



During this time the male came and 

 scolded at me several times. At last I left 

 them to enjoy their happiness in peace. 



The Shore Lark is strictly a ground 

 bird, never perching on trees. Perched 

 upon a fence or on an ant hill on the 

 prairie he warbles forth his song. Like 

 the European Skylark he sinos while in the 

 air. I have seen them fly upward in a 

 spiral direction until almost out of sight, 

 ever and anon checking their flight and 

 with vibrating wiugs • warble forth their 

 melody. One will remain in the air gener- 

 ally about a minute and then descend with 

 partially closed wings, checking his descent 

 several times before reaching the ground. 



The nest is built in a hollow scooped out 

 by the bird and lined with prairie grasses ; 

 inside this is a finer lining of feathers, thistle 

 down and the outside skin of grasses. The 

 eggs are generally three or four, of a dirty 

 white ground color, covered all over with 

 buff and light brown spots. — IT. G. Smith, 

 Jr., Denver, Colorado. 



List of Birds 



COLLECTED IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OP ST. LOUIS, MO., BY 

 JULIUS HURTER, 2,346 S. 10th ST., ST. LOUIS. 



(Concluded from Page 87.) 

 The nest was found of those birds that are marked* 

 121* Myiarchus crinitus, (Linn.) Cahan. Great-ci-ested 



Flycatcher. Summer sojourner. 

 122" Sayomis fuscus, (Gmel.) Baird. Pewee. Summer 

 sojourner ; abundant ; March 24. 



123 Contopus borealis, (Sw.) Baird. Olive-sided Flycatch- 



er. Transient; rare; May 22. 



124 Contopus virens, (Linn.) Caban. Wood Pewee. Sum- 



mer sojourner. 



125 Empidonax fiaviventris, (Baird.) Yellow-bellied Fly- 



catcher ; transient ; May 20. 



