Breeding of the Prairie Horned Lark in Eastern New York-A Corr 
rnot 7 d th B t“ etin 1 th6 NllttaU 0rn 'thological Club, Vol. VI, p " 
naune'. S ^ ec *^ ca ^’ “Eremopkila alpestris” not knowing their'p^oper^ace 
. , Mr ' William Brewster lately saw the mounted skins of these birds and 
H 7 u ’ T ebruarj 32 ’ l883 ’ aild in March »nd October, l8 S 7 11 ™ 
and darker colored vanety, probably aip es tri S proper, visits this locality 
in winter; and I have a specimen of that race captured here about April 
■8,5- Austin F. Park, T„y.N. r. Ant , V. J.„. 1888. Till. 
Early nesting of Octocoris alpestris praticola. — March 26, 1888, while 
returning from a trip after Crossbills, I flushed a female Horned Lark 
within one hundred feet of where I found my first nest last season (April 
11, 18S7), and as she acted as they usually do when nesting, out of curi- 
osity I began to search, and was rewarded by finding the nest, a mere 
cavity in the side of a sandy knoll, lined with dead grasses, a little thistle 
down, and a few mayweed blossoms. The eggs had been incubated a few 
days. On the 21st, 22d, and 23d the thermometer ranged in the vicinity 
of zero, and in fact the spring has been very backward. When you ap- 
proach the nest, usually the female sneaks from two to three rods before 
flying, then flies to a short distance, observes you closely, begins to pick 
on the ground, and then flies to a distant part of the field to be joined by 
her mate. Occasionally a female will hover for a moment over 3 011, if 
you are close to the nest, but they vary so in actions that it is hard to 
describe the different peculiarities. 
Since the above I have taken other sets. April 3, three nests of three 
eggs each in stubble fields on knolls. April 4, one set of four eggs, much 
incubated, in oat stubble. April 6, set of four fresh eggs in stubble, and 
the same day a nest with one young fledgling, which I should judge to 
have been tvvo or three days old, on the side of a knoll in a newly seeded 
meadow. The young bird was about a foot outside of the nest, and very 
cold, but alive, for which I cannot account as the old birds were flushed 
about a rod from the nest. April 7, nest of four nearly fresh eggs, in oat 
stubble as usual, on the side of a knoll. I find these birds breeding as 
late as June in favorable localities, “barren fields with not much if any 
herbage in them,” which shows they must at least raise two broods annu- 
ally. Before nesting the male is very active, singing from early morning 
until late evening, both on the ground and high up in the air. But as 
soon as the female begins her incubation he becomes silent, and keeps 
in a distant part of the field to warn her, as I often have seen him do, by 
flying close to her in the nest, but not alighting , soon to be followed by 
her and chased around as when mating. 
Where early in the season you saw dozens of pairs singing, you will be 
surprised at the quietness now. But after beating about the field you 
will begin to disturb them, and will find as many birds as formerly. — Geo. 
E. Harris, Buffalo, N. Y. Auk, V, July, 1888. p. J £0 - - 
