BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 293 



faintly indicated. M<i/, : length (skins) 7.90-9.08, wing 4.45-4.96, tail 

 !'..*( >-3.12. bill 1.19-1.40. Ft male: length (skins) 7.70-8.10, wing- 3.95-4.32, 

 tail 2.:>2-2.t)0, bill 1.20-1.:!!'. 



Distribution. --From southeastern Texas west to southern New Mexico 

 and Arizona ; south to northern Mexico. 



501b. Sturnella magna neglecta (Aud.). WESTERN MEADOW- 

 LARK. 



Adult male in breeding plumage. Crown with median buffy stripe ; lores 

 yellow ; superciliary buffy ; rest of upper parts grayish brown, with buffy 

 white streaks and black streaks and bars : middle of back heavily marked 

 with black, and tertials. rump, and tail heavily barred : outer tail feathers 

 mainly white ; under parts bright yellow, yellow of throat spreading over 

 rhrek* : crescent on breast and spotting on sides black. Adult female in 

 breeding plumage : similar, but paler, and yellow restricted. Adults in 

 winter plumage: upper parts lighter, from unworn light tips and edgings 

 of feathers : black and yellow of under parts veiled by light edgings. 

 Male: length (skins) 8.31-10.14, wing 4.66-5.08, tail 2.69-3.25, biD 1.17- 

 1.44. Female : length (skins) 7.74-9.00, wing 4.12-4.59, tail 2.39-2.84. bill 

 1.09-4.28. 



Distribution. - - Western United States from Wisconsin, Illinois, and 

 Texas to the Pacific, and from British America south to Lower California 

 and northern Mexico. Resident south of 39 and near Seattle. 



J\ est. -- Usually at the foot of a bunch of grass, made of grass, gen- 

 erally loosely covered over. Eggs : 3 to 7, generally white, spotted varia- 

 bly over the entire surface with different shades of brown and purple. 



Food. Mainly grasshoppers and their eggs, beetles, the destructive 

 large black cricket, and other insects. 



The voice of the western meadowlark is so different from that of 

 the eastern bird that in going west you recognize it the instant the 

 pure clarion notes strike your ear, whether at a wayside station amid 

 the puffing of the engine, or from the moving train when, with a 

 turn of the wing, the bird flies over the car carolling as it goes, 

 regardless of all but the song in its heart. " There 's the western 

 meadowlark ! " you cry out in eager delight, and as the train leaves 

 him behind and you lean back on the dusty car cushions, you rest in 

 a world of blue sky and celestial song. The lark's notes have been 

 written down in sharps and flats, but the pure, heavenly quality of 

 the song can never be reproduced. 



GENUS ICTERUS. 



General Characters. - - Bill about as long as head, very acute ; feet fitted 

 for perching rather than walking ; tarsus not longer than middle toe and 

 claw : side toes equal, or outer longest ; tail rounded or graduated. 



KEY TO ADULT MALES. 



1. Plumage black and yellow or orange. 

 2. Head mainly yellow. 



3. Breast pale orange semietti, p. 295. 



3'. Breast light lemon yellow nelsoiii. p. 29G. 



2'. Head mainlv black. 



