Reproduction 97 
manner in which a Robin secures earthworms. Thus I have seen 
the Larks dig up both cutworms and earthworms. MeAtee 
(1905) quotes a correspondent in regard to this method of 
securing cutworms for the young. This correspondent, Dr. 
Le Baron, recounts the description of a farmer who watched the 
Lark pry out cutworms from beside the hills of corn, seeming 
to know, by some method, just where they were to be found, 
and taking one after another until four or five had been secured 
before leaving for the nest. Criddle (1920) describes a similar 
method used by praticola in Manitoba though in this ease the 
cutworms were secured from the sides of scattered clumps of 
weeds. 
Reactions of adults with young in nest.—The surprising 
thing in the reactions of the Larks at this period is not that 
they are so different from the reactions when eggs are in the 
nest but that the reactions are so similar. The female does 
much brooding during the first few days (especially in the case 
of early nests) following hatching and her solicitude is expressed 
in a fashion very similar to that exhibited during incubation. 
Later she does more calling, stays nearer, gives fewer casual 
abandonments. One female would invariably fly close above 
my head as I approached her nestlings, then as I sat near the 
nest she would stay near me and hunt for food within twenty 
to thirty feet and always, under such circumstances, approached 
the nest with great hesitancy. Again another went up into the 
air while I was by her nest and flew about for several minutes 
three or four hundred feet overhead and in circles two or three 
hundred yards in diameter. During this time she made not a 
sound. But these reactions were exceptional. Tables 11 and 13 
give a summary of reactions of adults when young were in the 
nest. Casual abandonments and distress simulations persist but 
‘‘other reactions,”’ i. e., calls, flights above the nest, have greatly 
increased. The male shows concern for the first time after the 
eggs hatch, but then it is confined to calls. His solicitude for 
safety of the young is frequently non-existant. In such cases, 
if he is not timid, he will feed unconcernedly while an intruder 
is within a few feet, though the female with her highly devel- 
oped concealing instincts may not approach the nest. If the 
male is timid he merely stays away from the vicinity until the 
intruder leaves. 
