154: LARK FINCH. 



York city. It is, however, a permanent resident through- 

 out its range, and to one who associates it with magnoUas 

 and yellow jessamine it seems strangely out of place amid 

 snowy surroundings. 



The Cardinal builds its nest about four feet from the 

 ground in thickets, laying three or four eggs, which are 

 white or bluish white, speckled and spotted with grayish 

 or reddish brown. 



In the Mississippi Yalley and westward there are sev- 

 eral members of this family who are rarely found east 



Lark Finch ^^ ^^^® Alleghanies. Prominent among 



Chondestes them is the Lark Finch, a handsome 



grammacus. \^]^^^ about six and a quarter inches 

 long, with ear-coverts and sides of the crown chestnut, 

 the back grayish bro^vn streaked with black, the outer 

 tail-feathers tipped with white, and the under parts 

 white, with a single black spot in the center of the 

 breast. 



This is a migratory bird, arriving in southern Illinois 

 about the middle of April and remaining until September 

 or October. Mr. Ridgway, in his Birds of Illinois, says 

 that its favorite resorts are " fertile prairies and meadows 

 adjoining strips or groves of timber. In Illinois it evinces 

 a special fondness for cornfields,, in which it builds its 

 nest at the foot of the stalks, while the male sings from 

 the fence or the top of a small tree by the roadside." 



Its song, the same writer continues, is " composed of 

 a series of chants, each syllable rich, loud, and clear, in- 

 terspersed with emotional trills. At the beginning the 

 song reminds one somewhat of that of the Indigo-bird 

 {Passeriiia cyanea\ but the notes are louder and more 

 metallic, and their delivery more vigorous. Though 

 seemingly hurried, it is one continuous gush of sprightly 

 music ; now gay, now melodious, and then tender beyond 

 description — the very expression of emotion." 



