ICTERID.E 



251 



quantities in the stomachs. They aggregate but 

 little more th:ui 13 per cent, of the whole luod, 

 oats forming nearly half of this amount. In 

 view of the many complaints that the Red-wing 

 eats grain, this record is suri)risingly small. The 

 most important item of the bird's food, however, 

 is weed seed, which forms practically the whole 

 food in winter and about 57 per cent, of the fare 

 of the whole year. The principal weed seeds 

 eaten arc those of ragweed, barn-grass, and 

 smartweed. That these seeds are preferred is 

 shown by the fact that the birds begin to eat 

 them in August, when grain is still readily acces- 

 sible, and continue feeding on them even after 

 insects become plentiful in .\pril. The Red-wing 

 eats very little fruit and docs practically no harm 

 in the garden or orchard. Nearly seven-eighths 

 of its food is made up of weed seed or of insects 

 injurious to agriculture, indicating unmistakably 



that the bird should be protected, except, per- 

 haps, in a few ])laces where it is overabun- 

 dant." (F. E. L. Beal.) 



Photo by il. T. Ml- 



RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD 

 In some States there is a bounty upon his head 



MEADOWLARK 

 Sturnella magna magna (Linnceus) 



A. O. U. Number 501 .See Color Plate 75 



Other Names. — Common Lark ; Old Field Lark ; 

 Field Lark; Marsh Quail; Medlark; Mudlark; Medlar; 

 Crescent Stare. 



General Description. — Length, lo'A inches. Upper 

 parts, brown streaked with black ; under parts, black 

 and yellow. Bill, long and slender ; wings moderately 

 short; tail, short, with the feathers pointed; legs and 



toes, long. 



Drawing by R. I. Brasher 



MEAX)OWLARK (about ; nat. sizei 

 One of the comparatively few birds that walk 



Color. — Adult Male: Crown with a narrow center 

 stripe of pale dull buffy, separating tz'.'o broad stripes 

 of black, streaked narrowly with brown, these streaks 

 sometimes obsolete on forehead ; a broad stripe, lemon- 

 yellow from nostril to above eye, the remaining portion 

 over the eye dull bufFy-white; a narrow stripe behind 

 eye of black; shoulders and the space between them, 

 broadly black centrally edged and tipped with brown, 

 but this passing on extreme edges and tip into buflfy- 



whitish or pale buff, producing distinct narrow streaks: 

 rump and upper tail-coverts, buffy, broadly streaked 

 with black; middle pair of tail-feathers black centrally, 

 pale brownish-gray or grayish-brown laterally ; three 

 outermost tail-feathers extensively white, the outer- 

 most (sometimes the one next to it also) almost entirely 

 white ; greater coverts light buffy grayish-brown edged 

 with paler; secondaries similar in coloration to the 

 greater coverts, the tertials usually with the black 

 forming a large central irregular patch, but sometimes 

 broken into regular and widely separated transverse 

 lines or bars ; primaries, dusky-grayish, the outermost 

 broadly edged with white, the rest with outer webs 

 broadly edged with light grayish-brown ; throat, breast, 

 and abdomen, bright Icmon-ycUoiv; a broad crescent of 

 black on chest, the extremities of which blend into 

 black spots on the cheeks; sides of breast, white broadly 

 streaked with black, the sides and flanks similar, but 

 tinged with buff and with black streaks rather nar- 

 rower; iris, brown. Adult Female: Similar to the 

 male, but much smaller; lateral stripes of crown more 

 broadly streaked with brown, the stripe behind eye 

 brown streaked with black, instead of uniform black; 

 sides of head and neck, more buffy; black jugular 

 crescent relatively smaller, the feathers usually tipped 

 with light grayish ; yellow of throat, breast, etc., rather 

 duller. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: .\rtfully concealed beneath 

 tuft of clover, sedge, or grass ; constructed of stems 

 and coarse grass, and lined with fine blades ; usually 

 with covered, arched entrance to which a short wind- 

 ing path leads. Eccs : 4 to 6. crystal white thickly 

 or thinly spotted with chestnut and reddish-brown ; 

 a second nesting not uncommon and probably usual. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States and British 

 provinces north to 54° and as far west as Great Plains. 

 Not strictly migratory, often wintering as far north 

 as lower New England States. 



