Notes from Field and Study 



217- 



place in the garden where I was able to catch 

 some flies, and a good part of my morning 

 was spent in this humble occupation. The 

 little stranger soon concluded that I served up 

 a fairly acceptable class of delicatessen, and, 

 waiving formality, sat upon my hand and ate 

 flies by the wholesale. I put my face down 

 close to the exquisite mite, but found her so 

 apparently interested in my eyes that I had 

 to keep them partly closed for fear of the 

 sharp little beak. Perhaps she was fascinated 

 by seeing the reflection of her dainty self. 

 I introduced her to the dining-room bay- 

 window, filled with house plants, and here she 

 was indeed happy, for she hopped from plant 

 to plant, picking up insects and larvae by the 

 dozen. She had many callers during her 

 short stay with me, but seemed to care little 

 how many people were about her. Early in 

 the afternoon I caught the tiny morsel, 

 placed her on a spray of alder and photo- 

 graphed her. But pictures are so inadequate 

 to her coloring and grace that they seem 

 almost sacrilegious. In the early afternoon I 

 gave her her freedom, leaving her time to get 

 her bearings before dark, and I may always 

 think as I look upon one of these brightest 

 gleams in our migrating throng, "perhaps it's 

 my beautiful little friend." — Mary Pierson 

 Allen, Hackettstown, N. J. 



The Skylark (Alauda arvensis) on 

 Long Island 



About mid- June, while passing a vacant 

 field in Flatbush, Greater New York, my 

 attention was arrested by the flight song of a 

 Skylark. The bird was above this vacant lot 

 and continued to rise and poise in the manner 

 so described. It remained in the air for at 

 least five minutes, singing continually, or 

 until I walked some distance away. Then it 

 descended in zigzag fashion to a point near 

 the center of the field. Thinking it might have 

 alighted near a nest, I carefully marked the 

 spot and walked rapidly over to it. I flushed 

 the bird at about the point I expected, but a 

 systematic search failed to discover a nest or 

 flush another bird. When the bird was flushed 

 it again rose in song flight . Another bird was 

 seen in a nearby field. 



On August 30, 1907, I went to the same 



place for the purpose of investigating the- 

 status of the Skylark in that locality. In the- 

 same field where the bird was found in June 

 one was flushed, but it merely flew away 

 much after the manner of a Horned Lark, no> 

 song was heard and no other bird was seen. 

 I enquired about the bird at the otSce of a 

 real estate dealer nearby and was referred to- 

 an intelligent ex-farmer living in the vicinity. 

 This gentleman said that the bird was a regu- 

 lar but not abundant permanent resident,, 

 equally common in winter and summer; that, 

 about eight years before while farming inr 

 that section, he found a nest and four young, 

 and he did not believe that the birds had in- 

 creased in numbers since that time. He esti- 

 mated that there were not more than thirty 

 birds in a radius of a mile in that section. In: 

 two fields in front of his place he thinks that 

 the birds now breed and says that in the early - 

 evenings they rise in flight song above these 

 fields. Of course the song is heard only dur- 

 ing a period covering the breeding season and 

 a short time prior to and following it. During 

 the rest of the year, the birds are compara- 

 tively silent and inconspicuous. For the failure 

 to increase in numbers this gentleman couldl 

 suggest no cause. — B. S. Bowdish, New 

 York City. 



Horned Lark Breeding in Connecticut 



In the July- August Bird-Lore there is - 

 published an unsigned article on the Prairie - 

 Horned Lark in Connecticut. As the writer, 

 who is a friend of mine, is away from home - 

 and will not see this article until his return, 

 in a month or two, I take the liberty of reply- 

 ing to your request for his name. The writer- 

 is Mr. Albert W. HonywiU, Jr. I was with 

 Mr. Honywill for a time and also saw the 

 Larks. On May 30, this year, my friend and;' 

 I went with Dr. L. B. Bishop to Washington,. 

 Conn., and although we went over all the- 

 ground, were unable to find any Larks. Sev- 

 eral people, who had become acquainted with>. 

 the Larks in 1906, said' that they had not seent 

 any this year. However, we heard an account 

 of a nest and young which was undoubtedly - 

 that of a Horned Lark. 



We found the Bartramian Sandpiper oni 

 May 30. — C. A. Pangibltrn.. 



