EASTERN MEADOWLARK 53 



STURNELLA MAGNA MAGNA (Linnaeus) 



Eastern Meadowlark 



Plates 3 and 4 

 Contributed by Alfred O. Gross 

 HABITS 



The meadowlark is the outstanding and the most characteristic 

 bird of the American farm. It is revered by the farmer not only 

 because of its charming simplicity and its cheerful, spirited song, but 

 also for its usefulness as a destroyer of harmful insects and the seeds 

 of obnoxious weeds. The coming of the meadowlark in the early 

 spring, while the fields are still brown, is a thrilling event. His 

 arrival is made known by his plaintive but not complaining or melan- 

 choly song as he stands mounted atop some tall tree in a grassy 

 meadow, with his bright yellow breast surmounted by a black crescent 

 gleaming in the morning sun. 



The meadowlark has the build and the walk, as well as the flight, 

 of the quail; and since it frequents the marshes, especially in its 

 winter quarters, it has sometimes been called the marsh quail. This 

 name has probably lead many a hunter to think of it as a game bird. 

 Fortunately in recent years fewer meadowlarks are killed for food, 

 and this may be at least one factor responsible for the increasing 

 numbers as well as the extension of its nesting range. 



When I first came to Maine 35 years ago the meadowlark was a 

 comparatively rare bird in the southern part of the State. Since 

 that time it has steadily increased in numbers, until today almost 

 every suitable meadow and grass field has its quota of meadowlarks. 

 Similar increases in the number of meadowlarks have been reported 

 from other sections of its range. Milton B. Trautman states in a 

 letter that he counted 400 pairs of meadowlarks while walking through 

 suitable fields, during the course of a few days in the Buckeye Lake 

 region, Ohio. He estimated the amazing number of 1,400 pahs as 

 nesting in the area, an average of 1 meadowlark for every 7 acres, or 

 about 91 to the square mile. 



In 1906-1908 I conducted the fieldwork of a statistical survey of 

 the birds of Illinois for the Illinois Natural History Survey. In 

 making the census counts, I walked many times through fields and 

 woods over the length and breadth of the State. An assistant 

 traveled at 30 yards distant and parallel to my line of march and 

 was responsible for measuring the distance of each field traversed in 

 terms of paces, which later were translated into feet. The species 

 and the numbers of birds flushed in a strip 50 yards in width, including 



