106 



MEADOWLABK 



planters draw off the water from the fields, obli- 

 ging the birds to take time to go a long distance 

 for w^ater. In the north it is hard for us to 

 realize how much harm the Bobolink does, and 

 without a personal knowledge of the losses of our 

 southern planters we must deplore the exter- 

 mination of our northern favorite, for it is the 

 bird which, since our childhood, has been the joy 

 of our meadows. 



Fig. 45. 



Meadowlark : StumeUa magna. 



Adults in summer, iipper parts streaked brownish ; under parts 



bright yellow, breast with black crescent. In winter, plumage 



duller. Length, 10| inches. 

 Geographic Distribution. — Eastern North America ; breeds 



from the Gulf of Mexico to New Brunswick and Minnesota ; 



winters from Massachusetts and Illinois southward. 



The Bobolink and Meadowlark are the two 



