WESTERN BIRDS Meadowlark 



Indiana, and North Carolina south to the coast of south- 

 eastern Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. It is smaller and 

 darker than magna. 



GENUS STURMELLA: WESTERN 

 MEADOWLARK. 



Western Meadowlark: Sttirmella neglecta. 



FAMILY— BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 



The Western Meadowlark resembles its eastern cousin 

 in many ways, the chief difference in plumage being the 

 yellow patches on sides of the throat, more pronounced 

 tail-bars, and darker upper parts. This bird breeds 

 along the western coast to southern California, northern 

 Mexico, and central Texas; wintering from Southern 

 British Columbia and Iowa south to Lower California; 

 east casually to Wisconsin, southern Michigan, and 

 northern Illinois. 



The chief difference in the eastern and western birds 

 is the song, in which the westerner excels. Chapman 

 says of it: "The call note of neglecta is a chuck, chuck 

 followed by a wooden rolling b-r-r-r-r, analogous to but 

 very unlike the dzit or yert and metallic twitter of 

 ■magna. The song of magna is a clean-cut fifing without 

 grace notes; that of neglecta is of mellow bubbling flute- 

 notes. The flight-songs of the two birds are much alike, 

 but, in my experience, neglecta sings much more fre- 

 quently on the wing, and, in the height of the mating 

 season, sings as often in the air as from the perch." 



The refrain is longer than that of the eastern bird, as 

 well as richer and sweeter, louder and more varied. It 

 is a whistle which human beings have imitated but not 

 set down satisfactorily in words. Surely, as it rings out 

 on the clear air, from open foothill or barren field, it is 



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