432 REED-^VRIGHT— THE VERTEBRATES OF [October i. 



uta, N. Y., just outside the Cayuga basin on the southwest. A. A. 

 Allen and J. T. Lloyd found a nest containing two eggs on June i6, 

 1908, at Ithaca. 



244 (467). Empidonax minimus Baird. Least flycatcher. 

 Abundant summer resident. The average date of spring ar- 

 rival is ]\Iay 4, the earliest, ^May i, 1906. Abundant everywhere ex- 

 cept the denser wooded areas. 



66. F amily Alavbjdje.. The Larks. 



245 (474). Otocoris alpestris (Linnaeus). Shore lark. 



It is reported b)' !Mr. Fuertes that the shore lark was formerly 

 common in this basin. It is now replaced by the prairie homed lark. 

 A few are, however, still found in winter. Mr. G. C. Embody took 

 two specimens at Auburn. 



246 (474&). Otocoris alpestris praticola Henshaw. Prairie homed 

 lark. 



Permanent resident although not common during December and 

 January. They become common about the first of February. This 

 species is the first of our Passerine birds to nest. On April 7, 1904, 

 a nest was foimd at Trumansburg which contained one egg and two 

 young. Dating back fourteen days, which, according to Bendire is 

 the period of incubation, the eggs must have been laid not far from 

 !March 20 to 23. On April 20, 1902, there was taken at Ithaca a 

 young individual which had just left the nest. On April 6, 1906, 

 young just beginning to fly were seen. In 1907 Mr. A. A. Allen 

 found on April 3 a nest containing eggs and on April 4 another 

 nest in which the eggs hatched April 10. The young of this nest 

 were kDled by a very hea^'y snow storm a few days later. 



67. Family Corvtd^. The Crows and Jays. 



247 (477). Cyanocitta cristata (Linnasus). Blue jay. 



Common permanent resident. It is now rarely seen in the vicin- 

 ity of Ithaca except for a short period during the spring and fall. 

 It has not been known to nest in this immediate vicinity- since 1889 

 when a pair built in a small grove of oaks on the Cornell Campus. 



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