Reproduction 93 
while empty shells were yet in the nest and but once or twice 
before the newly hatched were completely dry. The egg breaks 
about the larger end, the young emerges, the parent promptly 
removes the empty shell, the down soon drys and within an hour 
or two, perhaps much less, the nestling supports himself upon 
his belly and wing tips, cranes his neck toward the zenith and 
opens wide a yellow-patched maw. 
Feedings.—The most important thing in the life of a nest- 
ling is food and this is supplied, as a rule, by both parents. In 
TABLE 16 
Observations of the incubating Prairie Horned Lark Female (nest No. 21, 
June 20, 1926, Evanston, III.) 
Time of 
Day 
4:20 a.m. ushed with casual abandonment at 30 feet. 
4:30 Heturned to ims facing southwest. 
4:45 Faced northeas 
5:12 Faced = rab neransr 
5:25 Left n 
5:26 Heteried to — Flew within 4 feet, walked in. 
5:41 Faced northeas 
5:45 Flew from sare alight ted 60 feet away. 
5:53 Returned - som vicinity, bc out a cut worm near nest. 
5:55 Returned t t, faced so est. 
6:09 Parsed cues: { = northe 
6:10 aced southwi 
6:20 Faced northeas 
6:38 Faced sou t 
6:47 Faced we 
6:54 Left n 
— Returned to nest, walked in from 30 feet. 
7:31 ion mee to = wale | in from 30 feet, picked ground. 
7:34 Poet ——— 
7:42 poregalic rtheas 
8:03 Left n 
8:10 Recast to oe walked in from 30 feet. 
8:11 aan northeas 
8:38 aced southw or 
8:42 hes nest, flew 100 yards away. 
(Remainder of day spent in photography and experimentation.) 
one or two cases I failed to see the male with food at any time 
but usually he did about as well as the female. In the case of 
the feedings recorded in Table 17 the male visited the nest less 
often than the female but he usually eame with a much greater 
burden, fed more nestlings, so that, all in all, the case was about 
even between them. For an extensive record of feedings see 
Table 17. This account is for April. Shorter observations in 
June and July gave similar records. It has not been possible, 
as yet, to determine whether or not the rate of feeding varies 
with the age of the young, or just when the male begins to 
