WESTERN MEADOWLARK 91 



sends me his impressions of it as follows: "Probably all bird lovers 

 who know the songs of both eastern and western meadowlarks will 

 agree that the song of the western is far superior to that of the eastern. 

 While I have no records of the western bird's songs, and cannot give 

 detailed statistics, I have heard it many times and can compare the 

 two songs in some of their details. The western meadowlark's song 

 probably averages about the same in length, but contains more notes, 

 and the notes are shorter and more rapidly repeated. The pitch is 

 lower than that of the eastern species. Consonant sounds, both 

 liquids like I and explosives like k or t are much more frequent, occur- 

 ring in practically every note of the song. Individual birds sing a 

 great number of variations, and it is probable that the variation in 

 this species is as great as in the eastern bird. Finally, the quality of 

 the song is richer and fuller, resembling that of thrushes or the Balti- 

 more oriole. This matter of richer quality is what makes the song 

 superior to our ears. It is undoubtedly due to the lower pitch. 

 Physicists tell us that quality of musical sounds is caused by overtones, 

 and a lower-pitched note will have more overtones that are audible to 

 the human ear. 



"The western meadowlark sings a flight song that is quite unlike 

 the commoner song and very similar to the flight song of the eastern 

 bird. The introductory notes, however, are not harsh or nasal, but 

 clear and thrushlike, while the rest of the song is far inferior in quality 

 to the commoner song." 



A. D. Du Bois, who has heard the song in both Montana and Min- 

 nesota, says in his notes: "It seems to me this westerner is something 

 of a yodeler. * * * To my ear, its song has a very pleasing alto 

 quality which makes the eastern bird's song seem a rather thin falsetto 

 by comparison. In the vicinity of my home in Minnesota we have 

 both species; but in this locality I do not hear quite the same songs 

 of the westerner that I heard in Montana." 



Impressions of two of the earlier travelers in the west are worth 

 quoting. J. A. Allen (1868) did not at first recognize it as the song of 

 a meadowlark, saying: "It differs from that of the Meadow Lark in 

 the Eastern States, in the notes being louder and wilder, and at the 

 same time more liquid, mellower, and far sweeter. They have a 

 pensiveness and a general character remarkably in harmony with the 

 half-dreary wildness of the primitive prairie, as though the bird had 

 received from its surroundings then- peculiar impress; while if less loud 

 their songs would hardly reach their mates above the strong winds 

 that almost constantly sweep over the prairies in the hot months. 

 It differs, too, in the less frequency of the harsh complaining chatter 

 so conspicuous in the Eastern birds, so much so that at first I suspected 

 this to be wholly wanting." 



