720 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
In winter, on the Carlsbad Bird Reserve it was common in January, 1915, [and 
noted in December, 1916 (Willett). In the sand country about 40 miles east of 
Carlsbad several large flocks were seen and four specimens taken January 9, 1919 
(Ligon)J. It winters abundantly at Mesilla Park (Merrill, 1913). Just south of 
New Mexico, at El Paso, Texas, one was noted on February 9, 1892 (Mearns), and 
sometimes it is found in southern Arizona the first half of February. 
In the spring of 1904 it arrived at Rinconada on April 23 (Surber), and this is 
probably not far from an average date for northern New Mexico. A male was taken, 
April 29, 1915, in Apache Canyon, about 35 miles east of the Arizona line. [On 
May 7,1920, several were seen in San Luis Pass (Ligon); on May 7, 1922, four males 
and one female were seen 2 miles south of the Santa Fe Indian School, and the same 
day 6 miles south of the school, a flock of about fifty. On May 25, 1919, a male and 
female were seen on the flats below La Bajada Hill (Jensen). On May 29, 1919, sev¬ 
eral were seen in brown plumage southwest of Roswell for a distance of 15 miles 
toward the Felix River (Ligon).] The larger part have passed across the State by 
the middle of May, but a flock of about thirty birds was seen at Shiprock as late as 
June 2, 1907 (Gilman). The fact that they were still in a flock would seem to indi¬ 
cate that they were late migrants, rather than local breeders.—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —Sunk in the ground, sometimes under a bunch of weeds, or at the base 
of a cigar cactus; made of fine grass, small weed stems, and fine roots, sometimes 
lined with hair. Eggs: 4 or 5, plain pale blue, sometimes lightly spotted around 
the larger end with reddish brown, and with shell markings and a few wavy lines. 
Food. —On isolated ranches, the Lark Buntings sometimes do serious injury 
to the grain crops in passing, especially in seasons when desert, grass seed is scarce, 
but it is believed that, when the country settles up, the loss to individuals will be 
negligible, and the destruction of weed seed and injurious insects is important. 
Among others they eat leaf beetles and weevils, but best of all grasshoppers to the 
extent of 78 per cent [near Koehler Junction, 1913 (Kalmbach)]. They also eat 
pigweed, smartweed, amaranth, and Russian thistle seeds. 
General Habits. —The Lark Buntings or White-wings, black in 
the breeding plumage and brown in winter, were first seen in north¬ 
western New Mexico by Mr. Hollister on July 22, 1905, when a small 
flock visited the open flat near Agua Fria Spring in the Zuni Mountains. 
He writes regarding them: “The males were in excellent black plumage, 
but I think they were fresh arrivals from the north, although it may 
seem early for the migration.” Three years previous, in the south¬ 
eastern part of the State, he had found them five weeks later (September 
2-3, 1902), fairly common in the valley west of the Guadalupe Moun¬ 
tains, and sparingly in all the valleys in the Guadalupe Mountains, 
and on the plains west of Roswell. At that time they were all “in 
brown plumage” (MS). 
Previous to August 8, 1908, Major Goldman writes, “When we 
entered the Animas Mountains from Animas Valley none of these birds 
had been seen. When we returned to the valley on August 9, we found 
them numerous in large [black] flocks and they were seen nearly every 
day until I left the valley, August 19. They were common in flocks, 
apparently consisting almost entirely of black males, at Socorro, August 
11-24, 1909.” The thousands found by Doctor Dearborn at Carlsbad 
