THE MEADOW LARK 231 



her nest. If any debris was left about my lark's nest, 

 the old bird managed to carry it away. She even carried 

 away pieces of paper I left to mark the nest, probably 

 fearing that they would attract attention to the place. 



Many birds that build their nests on the ground lead the 

 young away from the nest almost as soon as they hatch, 

 but this is not true of the lark. Its young remain in the 

 nest until fully grown. The mother bird feeds them on 

 insects. 



The meadow lark lives over a considerable portion of 

 the United States and is usually to be found on the ground 

 in meadows and pastures. These birds are plump and ac- 

 tive, about the size of the common bob-white quail, but 

 rather more slender. They have bright yellow throats and a 

 black V-shaped blotch on the breast, which serves to iden- 

 tify them. If we see a brown bird about the size of a 

 quail, with rather slender neck and a yellow throat, run- 

 ning about in the meadow and pastures, we can be pretty 

 sure that it is a lark. There are two varieties of meadow 

 larks, and they are best distinguished from each other by 

 the variation in the yellow around the throat and the 

 color of the upper parts, wings, and tail. Each kind has 

 a song of its own, altho even the song has some similarity 

 in the two varieties. 



Meadow larks are among the first birds to be heard in 

 the early spring, and I have always considered them among 

 our most delightful songsters. We do not hear them sing 

 so often in the late summer or early fall ; but on any bright 

 day in the winter and from then on through the spring 

 and summer they may be heard every morning. As the 

 fall approaches, most of the meadow larks move to the 

 South, but many remain all winter. I have seen them by 



