Meadowlark WESTERN BIRDS 



western Iowa, eastern Kansas, and northwestern Texas; 

 wintering regularly from the Potomac and Ohio valleys 

 south to the Gulf States, and north locally to the Great 

 Lakes and southern Maine. 



Being dwellers of the treeless country, they build their 

 nests on the ground in thick grass or weeds which form 

 a canopy over the nest and completely hide it from 

 above. They have a stealthy way of going to and from 

 the nest, never flying down directly beside it, but instead 

 lighting some distance away and stealing up to it through 

 the thick grass. Uncultivated fields are favorite nesting 

 places. 



All ground-nesting birds have, beside their human 

 enemies, snakes and various small animals to contend 

 with and, consequently, the young usually develop rap- 

 idly and leave the nest while yet very young. In the 

 case of the Meadowlarks, the nestlings scatter from the 

 home when four or five days old, thus lessening the 

 possibility of the whole brood being annihilated. 



The song of the Meadowlark is a clear, plaintive 

 whistle of unusual sweetness. Mrs. Bailey says that the 

 Bobolink and the Meadowlark are two songsters of our 

 eastern meadows whose song is quite different. "One 

 can scarcely listen to them in the same mood. Robert 

 o' Lincoln's song is of June gladness, of strong sunshine 

 making the daisies whiter and deepening the buttercup's 

 gold; while the Meadowlark's, as he springs from the 

 dew-laden grass and sails up into the blue sky, is so 

 fresh and pure it seems to come on the wings of the 

 morning, and gives the deeper beauty of that day in 

 June when Heaven would try the earth if it be in tune. 

 The Bobolink's mood is one of care-free happiness; the 

 Meadowlark's suggests the fervent joy that is akin to 

 pain." 



A bird called the Southern Meadowlark (S. m. argu- 

 tula) is found from southern Illinois, southwestern 



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