44 



THE OOLOGIST. 



stomachs which I examiaed contained 

 tine sand or gravel. Without doubt 

 insects are included in the bird's bill of 

 fare when examined. 



Before the separation of alpestris and 

 praticola the bird was given place as a 

 resident. Since praticola became a 

 separate individual, many have de- 

 nied him this status claiming absence 

 on his part during December and some 

 during late November aad early Janu- 

 ary. 



That he is equally entitled to a 

 place as resident with the American 

 Goldfinch and Cedar Waxwing will be 

 conceded 'from a glance at the follow- 

 ing records for doubtful months during 

 '97. Jan. 9th, one; 18th, four; Nov. 17, 

 (raw west wind with flurries of snow) 

 seven; ISth, Hock of about twenty 

 (snowed and by noon of 20th was three 

 inches deep, then thawed); 20th, two- 

 23d, [heard one; 25th, two; Dae. 9th, 

 three (weather bright, wind south); 10th. 

 six (weather mild); 11th, one (mild); 

 15th, six (mild); 16th, heard several 

 (mild); 21st, (during the interval be- 

 tween this and previous record there 

 had been several snow storms and some 

 quite severe weather) flock of four, and 

 later amidst a heavy snow storm a flock 

 of about ten passed over. 27th, four; 

 28th, flock of eight and one of fifteen 

 flying southwest; 3lst, two. 



During the dates of the above records 

 all kinds of weather prevailed and the 

 result is much better than I could get 

 with the Goldfinch which at best dur- 

 ing the winter is very irregular 

 throughout Western New York or with 

 the Cedar Waxwing which is rarely 

 seen at that time. 



nFrom the results I would deduce that 

 the larger portion of praticola pass 

 south in winter, that the remainder 

 while somewhat irregular are never far 

 from us and are liable to appear at any 

 time without much regard to weather 

 conditions. 



As an example of variation in plum- 



age of different individuals taken on 

 the 16th of Feb. ai'e thus described in 

 my note book: "One, a male lacking 

 cinnamon tinge on neck and shoulders 

 being dusky instead and having the 

 horns whitish; the other a male, baing a 

 dark bird with but very little tinge of 

 the cinnamon, the breast-color a jetty 

 black and tha horns with conspicuous 

 black upper edge, in fact, general plum- 

 age thoroughly breeding type." 



In the matter of breeding, however, 

 the weather very evidently does influ- 

 ence the Prairie Horned Lark to a 

 marked degree. Langille gives dates 

 of finding first nest April 28, 1875, nest 

 containing four young; April 7, 1878, 

 female feeding young, which were able 

 to fly (He concludes nest must have 

 been begun early in March); April 9, 

 1880, four eggs about half incubated. 

 He does not state what the weather 

 was previous to finding of nests for 

 two or three weeks and this I believe to 

 bs an important factor. In Ontario I 

 took my first set of this species in '89, a 

 set of three in which incubation had 

 proceeded about one-third. This nest 

 was found the first week in May and 

 was unquestionably a first nest. 



Probably in Western New York nest 

 building does not begin as a rule much 

 if any before the 1st of April, often not 

 until later, but ^exceptions to this rule 

 produced by unusual weather are liable 

 to occur as was evidenced by the spring; 

 of '94 when I took a nest of four near- 

 ly fresh eggs on the 10th of March, an- 

 other of three fresh the 20th, a set of 

 three, incubation advanced, the 27th, 

 and another of three advanced in incu- 

 bation on the 3d of April. The whole 

 of the month of March up to about the 

 25th was most exce otional, the ground 

 being free from snow and the weather 

 more balmy than we usually see it in 

 April. During the last week of March 

 a light snow fell but it was not suffi- 

 cient to cause the birds to leave their 

 nests, but about April 10th there was a 



