THE OOLOGISt 



courses; they are bare of trees or 

 bushes, but in the spring they are 

 a-glow with lupine, lark-spur, hare- 

 bell, wild flax, and other plants, be- 

 sides balsamorhiza, wild geranium, 

 and others. In the foothills there are 

 dwarf aspens and small conifers, 

 merging into thick virgin coniferous 

 forests on the mountain slopes. With 

 this brief introduction, necessary to a 

 fair understanding of the environ- 

 ment, we proceed with the observa- 

 tions about the nesting birds of the 

 Basin. 



Nest No. 1, April 16. Desert Horned 

 Lark. Otocoris alpestris leucolaema 

 (Coues). It seems peculiar that hav- 

 ing grown up in Illinois among the 

 horned larks of the prairie, and while 

 watching their habits in that state, I 

 was never able to find their nests 

 then; the nests that I then observed 

 and studied were always pointed out 

 to me by a friend who could find them 

 easily. Just before I left Illinois to 

 make my home in Montana, this friend 

 explained to me how to find the nests, 

 and thereafter I had no trouble in this 

 respect. His advice was something 

 like this: "When you are in a bare 

 pasture where you think the larks are 

 nesting, look around and notice where 

 birds are feeding in sight, but pay no 

 attention to them, they are not the 

 ones you are after. Then walk ahead, 

 where no birds are in sight, scrutiniz- 

 ing the ground ahead for forty to fifty 

 feet. Presently a bird appears in 

 view, feeding aimlessly and walking 

 away carelessly, she is probably a 

 female that heard you coming and 

 stepped from her nest to avoid being 

 detected on it nearer at hand. Search 

 the ground around where she appeared 

 in view, and you will likely find a nest. 

 If you don't find it then, go away and 

 come back to the place, scanning the 

 ground ahead as before, after giving 

 the bird time to go into her nest; if 



she again appears, you are certain a 

 nest is there, so hunt until you find 

 it." 



This nest No. 1 was on one of the 

 many benches rising from Big Spring 

 creek, near Lewiston , along the old 

 stage road leading to Great Falls. The 

 nest was found as usual by observing 

 the female leave the nest at my ap- 

 proach, less than twenty feet ahead 

 of me. Unlike most of the nests of 

 this species I have examined, this 

 nest had a northern exposure, and 

 was backed up by a slight tuft of 

 grass. On the front it was banked 

 up with coarse particles of dried cow 

 chips, a very common method of nest 

 construction with this species. The 

 nest was made of coarse gray gra^s, 

 and it had a bedding of soft pistils. 

 This nest contained three eggs, and 

 when visited again two days later, the 

 nest complement had not been in- 

 creased. 



Nest No. 2. April 29. American 

 Magpie. Pica pica hudsonia. The 

 magpie became one of my most inti- 

 mate friends in my Judith Basin ex- 

 perience. He was always reliable, for 

 I knew just about how many nests 

 were to be examined in the vicinity 

 of Lewistown, and I always set apart 

 the last Saturday of April for my 

 magpie-nest hunting. A magpie out- 

 ing in Montana is like a crow outing 

 in Illinois, except that one does not 

 have to climb so high for the magpie's 

 nests and he generally carries home 

 more eggs of this western resident. 

 This nest No. 2 was in a grove of 

 small willows near Big Spring creek. 

 It was about twelve feet from the 

 ground, in upright forks of a tuft of 

 slender willows. Nobody was at home 

 when I rapped in question of my wel- 

 come, but I had become accustomed 

 to western ways so I proceeded to 

 make myself at home in the owner's 

 absence. In a few moments, however, 



