Meadowlark 



note! Its straight, tapering, sharp bill is typical of its 



voice ''Spring o' the year! spring o' the 



year!" it says, with a long-drawn breath, a little plaintive, 

 but not complaining or melancholy. 



Burroughs. Birds and Poets. ^^ 



Great tenderness, almost pathos, is expressed in the 

 liquid sympathetic voice of these faithful creatures. 



Stearns. New England Bird Life.^^ 



A piercing shaft of song which seems to cleave the air 

 straight from the hillside meadow beyond- 'I see; I see 

 you." 



Gibson. Strolls by Starlight and Sunshine. '^'^ 



Nuttall gives it as ''et-se-dee-ah." 



Oh meadow lark! 

 From dawn to dark 



Your carol quaint is ringing. 

 And ne'er did float from thrush's throat, 

 Song sweeter than your simple note. 



Of sunny summer singing. 



Selected. 



NIGHTHAWK 



The only exceptions that can be taken to the name 

 are that it is not a ''night" bird, as it flies about mostly 

 at dusk, sometimes at midday, nor yet is it a hawk, being 

 called so only from a resemblance when on the wing, and 

 in its general appearance at a distance. 



Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^ 



93 



