A NOTABLE QUARTETTE i 



ON the plains of Colorado there dwells a feath- 

 ered choralist that desei-ves a place in Amer- 

 ican bird literature, and the dav will perhaps 

 come when his merits will have due recognition, and 

 then he shall have not only a monograph, but also an 

 ode all to himself. 



The bird to which I refer is called the lark bunting 

 in plain English, or, in scientific terms, Calamospiza 

 tnelanocorys. The male is a trig and handsome fellow, 

 giving vou the impression of a well-dressed gentleman 

 in his Sunday suit of black, " with more or less of a 

 slaty cast,"" as Ridgway puts it, the middle and greater 

 wing-coverts bearing a conspicuous white patch which 

 is both a diagnostic marking and a real ornament. In 

 flight this patch imparts to the wing a filmy, almost 



1 The author is under special obligation to Mr. John P. Haines, 

 editor of "Our Animal Friends," and president of the American 

 Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, for publishing 

 the contents of this chapter in his magazine in time to be included 

 in this volume. Also for copyright privileges in connection with 

 this and other chapters. 



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