THE OOLOGIST. 



149 



such notes as I tliink may be of interest 

 from time to time. Let us see more 

 original articles in the OoLOGlST. 



C. S.M., . 

 Bonifacio, Florida . 



The Shore Lark in Canada. 



On the ^Oth of this month, March, I 

 found a nest of the shore lark, which I 

 think must he tlie lirst of the season for 

 Ihis latitude. The nest contained 3 

 fresli eggs. None of the early sets I 

 ever found of this species c^ver numher- 

 ed more than 4 eggs, and onci- only 2, 

 which were the first I had fcnind of this 

 bird. The largest set I ha^'c taken is 



eggs. It seems to me that the Shore 

 Lai'k begizas nesting in March as soon 

 as bare gronnd appears and exposes the 

 dead grass with Avliich thej^ make their 

 very plain nest, Avhich so niuch resem- 

 bles the surronnding earth that to llnd 

 it with<.)ut Hushing the bird or AvaUhing 

 her to her nest is a pnre accident. 



Very often in this locality ^\e have a 

 heavy s)ioav fall late in March, ov early 

 in April, Avhich mnst destroy nearly rJl 

 the early broods, bnt some cei'tainly es- 

 cape f<.)r I haA'c seen lai'ge 3'oung of this 

 species f(dlowiug their parents in April 

 while some snow still lingercjd in the 

 fence ccu'ners. 



I well remem])er the first nest of this 

 species v.iiit'h I found. It was ])laced on 

 the bottom of a large; graA'el pit. I had 

 seen a Shore Lark lly silently out of this 

 pit AvhencA'er I came near to it, and I 

 saarehed carefully for a nest, Ijut owing 

 to the size of the pit, perhaps i acre, or 

 most likely the sameness in appearance 

 of the nest and gravel, I failed to find 

 it imtil the nun-ning of April 3d, 1879. 

 On the pre\"ious night there had fallen 

 al)out 8 inches of sn<nv, and I Ihouglit 

 "now's my chance to find that nest." 



1 approached the pit carefully and look- 

 ed over the bank and saw the bird rise 

 leaving a small bare spot on the gronnd 

 where she sat. I ran down in glee to 

 the nest, and found, that it contained 2 



eggs which ])roved to l;e rotten. Dur- 

 ing the nc^xt night snow fell to the depth 

 of 18 inches. Now can you imagine 

 such a thing as birds hatching eggs ha- 

 neath a foot of snoAv V During the next 

 day or two many shore larks came to 

 the barnyard and lingered about until 

 the snoA\^ melted. For scn'eral seasons, 

 late in March when the weather was 

 very c(>]d and snoAV deep, 1 have shot a 

 fe.AV Sliore Lark and found that tjie fe- 

 males iin-arial)ly had bare and wrinkled 

 Ixdlies Avhich ])roved that they had been 

 endeavoring (o hatch their j'ouug. but 

 had been overtaken by advei'se weather. 

 John A. Mokden, 

 Hyde Park, Canada 



The Belted Kingfisher. 



The Belted Kingfisher is found 

 throughout North America, its color is 

 blue aljoA'e and the lower parts Avhite, 

 the length is al)out thirteen inches and 

 the extent of the wings twenty-two. 

 It? flight is rapid and it often sutldenly 

 stops, like a Sparrow-hawk, and hovers 

 oA'er the water, dashing headlong after 

 its prey which it carries to the nearest 

 stump or tree and swallows instantly. 

 It follows the course of rivers, even to 

 their source and its presence near a 

 stream is good evidence that fish are 

 abundant. 



The nests are made in holes dug to 

 the depth of from four to six feet in a 

 bank, the entrance being just large 

 enough to admit the bird, and tlie end 

 rounded like an oven. 



The eggs are generally six and pure 

 white. Incubation lasts al)()ut 16 days 

 being performed by both parents. 



May 19, 1888, I took five eggs of this 

 bird fr(.)m a hole in a high riAcr Itank. 

 This nest was not more than 2 feet 

 from a lU'st that I dug out in 18S7. 



May 28th, I dug out a-nothei- nest con- 

 taining one egg. This probably cmn- 

 l)letes the set found on the 19th. 



Edwakd L. Kittuedue, 

 Milford, New Hampshire. 



