THE PALLID HOKKED LAEK. 333 



In his "Notes on and List of Birds and Eggs Collected in Arctic America, 

 1861-1866," Mr. R. MacFarlane says, in speaking- of this species: "Nine nests 

 of this Lark were received at Fort Anderson (established on Anderson River 

 in 1861 and abandoned in 1866; approximate latitude 68° 35' N.), a few of them 

 from the Esquimaux, and the others were collected by us in the Barrens and 

 on the coast of Franklin Bay. The nest was usually composed of fine hay, 

 neatly disposed, and lined with deer hair. Several of the parent birds were 

 secured by snares placed thereon." 



The southern limits of its breeding range are as yet very imperfectly 

 known. Mr. Dwight records a breeding bird from the Saskatchewan region, 

 and it probably breeds in small numbers from the northern half of this province 

 northward. To the south it appears to intergrade for some- distance with Otocoris 

 alpestris praticola, which is really a miniature of the present subspecies, though 

 somewhat darker and a trifle smaller in size, as well as with Otocoris alpestris 

 arenicola, the Desert Horned Lark whose range it also adjoins along the eastern 

 slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Its general habits resemble those of our better- 

 known Prairie Horned Lark, which will be more fully described later. 



From three to four eggs appear to be laid to a set, and jn-obably only a 

 single brood is raised in a season. The earliest breeding record I have, one from 

 the lower Anderson River, in Arctic North America, is June 14; the latest, 

 from the same locality, is July 9, 1864, and the breeding season appears to be 

 at its height there during the first week in July, as all the nests found by Mr. 

 MacFarlane, excepting the single one just mentioned, were taken in this month. 

 The nest belonging to the earliest set of eggs, taken by Mr. R. MacFarlane 

 (No. 10370, United States National Museum collection) on June 14, 1864, 

 which is now before me, measures 5 inches in outer diameter by 2 \ inches in 

 height. The inner cup is 2^ inches in width by \\ inches in depth. The 

 nest, a well-built structure, is composed of rotten grass fibers, fine roots, and 

 pieces of willow bark, and is warmly lined with similar materials, caribou hair, 

 and old cocoons. It was found by an Eskimo; the female was snared on the 

 nest which contained three eggs when taken. 



The eggs of the Pallid Horned Lark are mostly ovate in shape, less often 

 elongate ovate. The shell is close grained, rather strong, and shows little or 

 no gloss. The ground color is mostly drab gray, sometimes grayish white; in 

 an occasional specimen a faint greenish tint is perceptible, which fades out in 

 time. The entire surface of the egg is profusely blotched and sprinkled with 

 different shades of pale brown. In some specimens the markings are bold and 

 well defined; in others they are minute, giving the egg a pepper-and-salt appear- 

 ance ; and again they are almost confluent, causing a uniform neutral brownish 

 appearance. In some specimens the markings are heavier and become confluent 

 only about the larger axis of the egg, forming a wreath and leaving the ground 

 color on the smaller end of the egg plainly visible; in fact, there appears to be 

 an endless variation in color and markings as well as in size among these eggs 

 and scarcely any two sets are exactly alike. 



