206 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



evenly spotted and of a slightly different shape; average dimensions .85 by 

 .63 inches. Frequently, as will be inferred from what is said above, the 

 eggs are laid before the last severe snow storms of the season. Photographs 

 by Professor Bailey and others which I have seen frequently show the nest 

 through a round hole in the snow which is several inches deep about it. 

 Evidently the old bird by continually sitting on the nest and raising 

 her head keeps it open to the sky and so preserves her eggs from 

 destruction; but frequently, if the snow is deep and the temperature 

 severe, the first brood is destroyed. But as soon as the weather becomes 

 pleasant again they invariably make new nests and continue until the 

 young are successfully reared. This interesting little bird must be called 

 a beneficial species, for its food consists through the winter months almost 

 entirely of weed seeds. In this manner it destroys millions of noxious 

 plants which otherwise would interfere with the proper development of 

 the farmers' crops; and during the breeding season as well as through a 

 large portion of the summer months, feeds to a great extent on the insects 

 which destroy the field vegetation, especially small grasshoppers and leaf- 

 eating beetles and the larvae of all kinds of insects. 



Otocoris alpestris hoyti Bishop 

 Hoyt Horned Lark 



Paler than alpestris, more grayish brown; throat paler yellow, and superciliary 

 stripe white; size of alpestris. (A.O.U. No. 474k) 



This subspecies breeds from the western shore of Hudson bay to the mouth of the 

 MacKenzie and the Arctic coast; migrates southward to Utah, Kansas, Ohio, and Long 

 Island in winter. For New York records see Oberholzer, U. S. Nat. Mus. Proc. 24, 

 845. Dwight, Auk, 7:143- Bishop, Auk, 13:132. It is uncommon in this State, and 

 can be identified only by collecting specimens and comparing them with museum series. 



Family CORVIDA.E 



Crows, Jays and Magpies 



Primaries 10; tail variable, usually rounded; 12 rectrices; hill ciiltri- 

 rostal, stout; nostril covered by dense tufts of bristles; rictus also provided 



