170 NORTH AMERICAN' BIRDS. 



Ill Xew Enj,daiid these birds mate during the latter part of April, and 

 construct tlieir nests in May. Tiiey always place tlieir nest on the ground, 

 usually in tiie shelter of a thick tuft of grass, and build a covered passage 

 to their hitldeii nest. Tiiis entrance is usually formed of withered grass, 

 and .so well conceals the nest that it can only be detected by Hushing the 

 female from it, or by the an.xiety of her male, who will frequently tiy round 

 the s])()t in so muTow a circuit as to betray its location. 



The eggs of the Meadow Lark vary greatly in size and also in their mark- 

 ings, though the general character of the latter is the same. Tiie smallest, 

 from Florida, measure .Uo by .GS of an inch. Tlie largest, from ]\Ia.ssacliu- 

 setts, measure 1.20 inches by .90. They have a white ground, marked and 

 dotted with irregular reddish-brown spots. Generally these are eijually 

 distributed, but occasionally are chieHy 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 un- 

 frequently occasioned renuuks, and even suggested conjectures as to specific 

 diiferences. They are all, however, reconcilable with differences in the age 

 of the parents, and are, to some extent, aflected by the circumstances under 

 which they are deposited. TJie 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 M'itli 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, lia\e smaller eggs, some- 

 times two thirds of the maximum size, more oldong and more ))ointed at one 

 end, and are marked, at the larger end only, with plashes of dark purplish- 

 brown. 



Sturnella magna, var neglecta, Aitd. 



WESTERN LAEK. 



Sturnella ncglecla, Aud. Birds Am. Vll, 1843, 339, pi. cucclxxxvii. — Newberry, Zobl. 

 Cal. & Or. Route ; Rep. P. R. R. Suiv. VI, iv, 1857, 86. — Bahid, Birds N. Am. 

 1858, 537. — Heerm. X, S, 54. — f'oopEi: & Suckley, 208. - Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 

 1870, 270. 'Sturnella hippocrepis, (Wagleu,) Heeemann, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. 2d series, 

 II, 1853, 269, .Siiisun. 



Sp. Char. Featliens above dark brown, margined with brownish-wliite, with a ter- 

 minal blotcli of pale reddish-brown. E.xposed portion of wings and tail with transverse 

 bands, which, in the latter, are completely isolated from each other, narrow and linear. 

 Beneath yellow, with a black pectoral crescent. The yellow of the throat extending on 

 the sides of the maxilla. Sides, crissnm, and tibia- very pale reddish-brown, or nearly 

 white, stieaked with blacki.<li. Head with a light median and snperciliary stripe, the 

 latter yellow in front of the e_ve ; a lilackish line behind it. The transverse bars on the 

 feathers above (less so on the tail) with a tendency to become confluent near the exterior 

 margin. Length, 10 inches ; wing, 5.25 ; tail, 3.25 ; bill, 1.25. 



Hab. Western America from high Central Plains to the Pacific ; east to Pembina, 

 and perhaps to Wi.scniisin. on the north (Iowa, Allen), and Texas on the south ; western 

 Mexico, south to Colima. 



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