They consist only of a foundation of bark-strips and grasses, and are lined with horse hair. 

 I have also made the observation that the Lark Sparrow repairs old nests of the 

 Cardinal, Mockingbird, Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, ^nd Orchard Oriole. As the 

 Lark Sparrow generally avoids the society of man, it seems peculiar that in many places 

 of Texas it is as familiar, and more so, as the northern Song Sparrow. Although I 

 have frequently discovered nests on the ground in cotton and corn-fields in Texas, 

 most of them were built near dwelling-houses in orchard and ornamental trees. In eastern 

 Texas the nest is almost invariably placed in thick bunches of Spanish moss on a horizon- 

 tal limb. At Vermillionville and New Iberia in southern Louisiana they were found in 

 gardens, but more usually in the dense Cherokee rose hedges which surround the fields. 

 In south-western Missouri all the nests examined by me were placed on the ground, 

 usually sunken in a cavity and concealed by tufts of com, clover, or. weeds. These 

 ground nests are exceedingly difficult to find. Several nests found between the years 

 1869—1879 in Du Page and Cook Co., 111., were all built on the ground.* In the gardens 

 of Texas the nests are easily discovered. "Although the parent birds do not make much 

 ado when the nest contains eggs, they become quite excited when the young are hatched. 

 The eggs, usually four to five in number, are pure glossy white, speckled, blotched, and 

 marked with zigzag and wavy lines and spots of very dark brown, almost black; this 

 color is easily rubbed off by a moist piece of cloth, and a dark shade of rusty-brown 

 remains. The markings prevail on the larger end, and the eggs somewhat resemble those 

 of the Baltimore Oriole, though smaller, and much more rounded and polished. They 

 measure .77 to .88 of an inch in length, and from .60 to .67 of an inch in breadth. 



In Texas the Lark Sparrow rears two and sometimes three broods annually, while 

 in south-western Missouri and in all parts of its northern habitat only one brood is 

 raised. In July and August I always heard in Texas the young males of the first brood, 

 scarcely two months old, practice their song in all directions. In delivering their per- 

 formance they were usually perched on the top of some bush or fence-rail, twittering 

 with all their power their short and rather harsh juvenile song. 



This Sparrow, like all' its congeners, subsists in winter largely on the seeds of 

 weeds arid grasses, taking also insects and their eggs when opportunity offers. In 

 August and September the birds are met most numerously in the cotton fields, v^rhere 

 they ai"e chasing the cotton moths and are searching for cotton and boll worms. By 

 the beginning of October they move southward, but stragglers are found until the middle 

 and end of that month. None winter in Texas. Southern Mexico (Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, 

 etc.) and probably also Central America is their real winter home. 



Though not bright-colored, the Lark Sparrow can justly be termed a very pretty 

 bird, its gi'ay, white, and brown color being very tastefully arranged. It is without 

 doubt one of the finest of the group of American Sparrows, known as the sub-family 

 of Spizellihse, termed by Dr. A. E. Brehni "Ammei-finken" (Bunting Sparrows), a very 



* According to the observations of Mr. H. C. Coale, Mr. B. T. Ganlt, and Dr. J. L. Hancock, the Lark Sparrow is rather 

 rare in northern Illinois, which fully agrees with my own observations. "In north-eastern Illinois,'; says Dr. Hancock, "I 

 found the Lark Pinch (scarce) in Englewood, Jtine and July last year, 1893. It was observed by me in middle of July 1887 

 in Hyde Park, and recorded as a 'summer resident' in my notes. At Riverside I met with it 'on the borders of fields in 

 woods,' for the last three years 1891 — 1893, but it is rather scarce. Jt breeds here, for I saw some that were feeding their 

 young. They are not wary, are easy to approach, which makes their identification unquestionable." . 



