460 LIFE HISTOEIES OP NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



grass, bits of stubble, weed stalks, and occasionally pine needles; the inner 

 cup is finished with finer materials of the same kind. Occasionally a covered 

 way, from 18 to 36 inches in length, leads to the nest, which in such cases is 

 placed at the end of the tunnel, beside a tussock of rank grass, and in such 

 situations they are difficult to find. The female is a close sitter, while the male 

 shows considerable anxiety and flutters about the vicinity, often betraying the 

 location of the nest in this way. Considerable additional work is sometimes done 

 on the nest after the eggs have been deposited. 



This bird is occasionally imposed on by the Cowbird, but not very often, 

 and an instance has been recorded where a second nest was built over the one 

 containing the parasitic egg. Most of the nests are placed in level meadows, 

 but where side hills, especially those with a southern exposure, are available, it 

 frequently selects them. The Meadowlark has many enemies, and numbers of 

 its eggs and young are destroyed every season by vermin, etc., and by the 

 agency of man as well. In dairy regions the mowing-machine uncovers and 

 destroys numbers, and in many places in the New England States and in central 

 New York it is becoming rarer with each year. 



The nest of the Meadowlark varies somewhat in size and bulk according 

 to the situation. An average one, now before me, No. 25093, United States 

 National Museum collection, taken by Dr. William L. Ralph, measures 7 inches 

 in outer diameter by 3 inches deep; the inner cup is 3 inches in diameter by 2 

 inches deep. It is composed exteriorly of coarse grass and lined with fine wire 

 grass, and it is only partly domed. 



The number of eggs to a set varies from three to seven, sets of five being 

 most common, and one is deposited daily. Incubation lasts about fifteen or six- 

 teen days, both sexes assisting in these duties. The young are able to leave 

 the nest in about two weeks, which is some time before they are able to fly, and 

 they are very adept in hiding at the slightest sign of danger. After they are 

 able to provide for themselves they gather into small parties and remain in the 

 vicinity where they were reared until the latter part of October, when they 

 gradually move southward. None, as far as known, pass beyond the United 

 States to winter. They find congenial homes at this time of the year in the 

 more southern States, and are then especially abundant along the Gulf coast. 



The eggs of the Meadowlark vary considerably both in shape and size; 

 the majority are ovate, while others are short, elliptical, and elongate ovate. The 

 shell is strong, closely granulated, and moderately glossy. The ground color is 

 usually pure white; this is occasionally covered with a pale pinkish suffusion, 

 and it is very rarely pale greenish white. The eggs are more or less profusely 

 spotted, blotched, and speckled over the entire surface with different shades of 

 brown, ferruginous, pale heliotrope purple, and lavender; these markings gener- 

 ally predominate about the larger end of the egg, and are rarely heavy enough 

 to hide the ground color. 



In some sets the markings consist mainly of a profusion of fine dots; in 

 others the spots are well rounded and fewer in number; and again they occur 



