In New England these birds mate during the latter part of April, and construct their nests in May. They always place their nest on the ground, usually in the shelter of a thick tuft of grass, and build a covered passage to their hidden nest. This entrance is usually formed of withered grass, and so well conceals the nest that it can only be detected by flushing the female from it, or by the anxiety of her mate, who will frequently fly round the spot in so narrow a circuit as to betray its location. The eggs of the Meadow Lark vary greatly in size and also in their markings, though the general character of the latter is the same. The smallest, from Florida, measure .95 by .68 of an inch. The largest, from Massachusetts, measure 1.20 inches by .90. They have a white ground, marked and dotted with irregular reddish-brown spots. Generally these are equally distributed, but occasionally are chiefly about the larger end. Their shape is oval, nearly equally rounded at either end. The diversity in the characteristics of the eggs of this species has not unfrequently occasioned remarks, and even suggested conjectures as to specific differences. They are all, however, reconcilable with differences in the age of the parents, and are, to some extent, affected by the circumstances under which they are deposited. The eggs of old, mature birds, deposited in the early summer, or the first brood, are usually sub-globular or obtusely pointed at either end, large in size, and irregularly sprinkled over with fine bright red dots. Younger birds, breeding for the first time, birds that have been robbed of their eggs, or those depositing a third set, have smaller eggs, sometimes two thirds of the maximum size, more oblong and more pointed at one end, and are marked, at the larger end only, with plashes of dark purplish-brown. Sturnella magna, var. neglecta, AUD. WESTERN LARK. _Sturnella neglecta_, AUD. Birds Am. VII, 1843, 339, pl. cccclxxxvii.—NEWBERRY, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route; Rep. P. R. R. Surv. VI, IV, 1857, 86.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 537.—HEERM. X, S, 54.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 208.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 270. _? Sturnella hippocrepis_, (WAGLER,) HEERMANN, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. 2d series, II, 1853, 269, Suisun.