LARK BUNTING 651 



The call note of the Lark Buntings, a gentle "who-ee-ee", with gradually rising 

 inflection, was heard frequently, and when given by a flock in chorus as the birds 

 rose from the ground before you or settled again a short distance away was most 

 pleasing. The true song, which is given by the males, as I have heard it here 

 [Thomas County, Nobr.] and on the high plains where the buntings breed abund- 

 antly, is, to me, suggestive of the notes of the Long-tailed Chat. In addition to 

 the similarity of the notes the singing bird frequently performs in a manner that 

 also calls to mind the same other feathered clown, and if the proceeding be seen 

 at a distance and in such a light that the colors and markings of the bird are ob- 

 scured, the illusion is all the more complete except that wonder may arise as to 

 what a Chat is doing in the open hills. The song is composed of syllables or 

 repetitions of syllables pieced together in a more or less regular fashion. Some 

 of the notes may be expressed as "cheerp'-cheerp'-cheerp'-cheerp'-chee-ee-ee- 

 ee-ee-hir'-ta-hir' ta-hir' ta-who-oo-oo-oo-oo-yor' da-yor' da-hurt'-hurt'-hurt'- 

 ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee — ." This is delivered most frequently by a bird on the wing, 

 but it may be given from a perch on a fence post or weed stalk. 



Keyser (1902) describes the song of the male lark bunting as follows: 



* * * his voice has not the loud, metallic ring, nor his chanson the medley-like 

 happy-go-lucky execution, that marks the musical performance of the bobolink; 

 but his song is more mellow, rhythmic, themelike; for he has a distinct tune to 

 sing, and sing it he will. In fine, his song is of a different order from that of the 

 bobolink, and, therefore, the comparison need be carried no further. 



As one of these minstrels sat on a flowering weed and gave himself up to a 

 lyrical transport, I made careful notes, and now give the substance of my elaborate 

 entries. The song, which is intermittent, opens with three prolonged notes run- 

 ning high in the scale, and is succeeded by a quaint, rattling trill of an indescribable 

 character, not without musical effect, which is followed by three double-toned 

 long notes quite different from the opening phrases; then the whole performance 

 is closed by an exceedingly high and fine run like an insect's hum — so fine, indeed, 

 that the auditor must be at hand to notice it at all. Sometimes the latter half 

 of the score, including the second triad of long notes, is repeated before the soloist 

 stops to take a breath. It will be seen that the regular song consists of four dis- 

 tinct phrases, two triads, and two trills. About one-third of the songs are opened 

 in a little lower key than the rest, the remainder being correspondingly mellowed. 

 The opening syllables, and, indeed, some other parts of the melody as well, are 

 very like certain strains of the song-sparrow, both in execution and in quality of 

 tone; and thus even the experienced ornithologist may sometimes be led astray. 

 When the bunting sails into the air, he rehearses the song just described, only he 

 is very hkely to prolong it by repeating the various parts, though I think he seldom, 

 if ever, throws them together in a hodge-podge. He seems to follow a system in 

 his recitals, varied as many of them are. As to his voice, it is of superb timbre. 



Another characteristic noted was that the buntings do not throw back their 

 heads while singing, after the manners of the sparrows, but stretch their necks 

 forward, and at no time do they open their mouths widely. As a rule, or at least 

 very often, when flying, they do not begin their songs until they have almost 

 reached the apex of their triangle; then the song begins, and it continues over the 

 angle and down the incline until another perch is settled upon. 



Langdon (1933) has to sa}^ of the song: "This mellow, rhythmic tune 

 has several, perhaps a half-dozen, distinct themes of about equal length 

 which are sung one after the other, Canary-like until the bird alights or 



