U THE OSPREY. 



On May 27, the evidence became most convincing, as on that day I dis- 

 covered a nest containing two young birds about three days old. This nest 

 was in a depression at the base of a tuft of grass. The female was brooding 

 her younglings so closely that I startled her from the nest when I was only 

 three feet away. 



My first nest containing eggs was found on May 19, 1900. It held four 

 eggs, far advanced in incubation. The situation was on the high prairie or 

 second bench, the site being a depression among grass blades, open above. 

 The nest was made of dried grass felted at the bottom with a few downy 

 pistils, the style of architecture being very similar to that of the Horned 

 Larks. The cavity was two and one-half inches, major and minor axes, with 

 a depth of two inches. The female flushed when I was about eight feet from 

 the nest. The structure held together when removed with great care. The 

 depression was three inches in diameter and two and one-half inches deep. 



It seems that for some reason I had miscalculated the breeding period of 

 McCown's Longspur, for the time of nidification had very generally passed 

 when my first set with eggs was taken. On May 30, 1900, young Longspurs 

 were seen on the prairie, a-wing for the first time, and nests containing young 

 were regularly found, though most of them showed that the eggs had only 

 recently yielded up their living treasures. It was evident that McCown's 

 Longspur was breeding this season much earlier than the books allowed, and 

 hence the only nests I found were those I chanced upon in trailing down nests 

 of the Long-billed Curlew, Nwmenius longirostris. One nest I chanced to 

 discover, containing three eggs, was left for further observation, as I was then 

 busily engaged in playing hide-and-seek with a male Curlew; after finding the 

 nest of the Curlew, however, the nest of the Longspur was overlooked in the 

 excitement of the moment, and the next day I was not able to re-locate it. 



It happened that my first nest with eggs for 1901, as for 1900, was found 

 on May 29. The site was a depression at the base of a small Coronilla bush. 

 The nest was made of dried grass, the interior diameter being two and three- 

 fourths inches, and the depth two inches. The female was closely brooding 

 her four eggs, as they were advanced in incubation, and she remained until I 

 almost stepped upon her. 



My record of nests of McCown's Longspur containing eggs closes with 

 one taken on May 30. It was in an exposed position, in a depression among 

 grass blades. As in other instances, it was discovered by flushing the female 

 from the nest. The dimensions were very similar to those already given, and 

 as in the other instances, the four eggs were advanced in incubation. Thus an 

 experience of two seasons on the prairie warrants me in saying that the last 

 week of May is none too early to look for good sets of eggs of this Longspur, 

 in central Montana. 



