SHORE-LARK ABOUT TO FEED YOUNG. Photographed from nature by F. A. Van Sant 



Early Larks 



BY F. A. VAN SANT, Jay, N. Y. 



DURING March, 1900, there was a heavy fall of snow in the north- 

 ern part of the Adirondacks, and by the middle of April the ground 

 was still covered with a feathery blanket, except on the slopes 

 of the sand-hills facing the south, where the snows had slipped and 

 wasted. 



Part way down one of these hills, on a patch of sand and dried grass 

 surrounded by snow, I found, on the 12th of April, the nest of a Prairie 

 Horned Lark. It was about two inches deep, was lined with dead grasses 

 and contained four delicately speckled eggs. Three days later something 

 interesting transpired in that little brown nest. As though to commemo- 

 rate the amazing mysteries of the first great Easter morning, the little 

 prisoners of the shell, on Sunday, April 15, burst from their confinement. 

 Only a short time elapsed ere their little notes of hope and ecstasy were 

 added to the grand chorus of nature's hallelujahs. The parent birds 

 twittered the anthems of this festive day as they diligently searched for 

 food with which to feed their ^tiny nestlings. 



The next day was cloudy and Tuesday was cold, with snow squalls all 

 day, but Wednesday came clear and bright, and I spent the day in watch- 

 ing the birds and taking their pictures. I used a Pony Premo Sr. camera, 

 6/4x8j4, with rapid rectilinear lens and a 4x5 Hammer plate in a kit. 

 I set the camera quite early in the morning, so that the birds would be- 

 come accustomed to it. After the sun was high enough to make a snap 

 shot possible, I tied a long black thread to the shutter release and, keep- 

 ing my opera glasses ready for instant use, sat down to await results. 



(54) 



J 



