252 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



WESTERN MEADOWLARK 



Sturnella neglecta Audubon 



A, O. IJ, Numlicr 501 I 



Other Names. — Common Meadowlark ; Field Lark 

 of the West; Lark of the West. 



Description. — Length, gj'j inches. Similar to the 

 Meadowlark but different in proportions, the wings 

 averaging longer, the tail shorter; coloration much 

 grayer and more " broken " above, the broad lateral 

 crown stripes never uniform black, but always (except 

 in excessively worn plumage) streaked with pale gray- 

 ish-brown ; cheeks always largely yellow ; blackish 

 streaks on sides and flanks varied with spots of pale 

 grayish-brown, the ground color of these parts paler 

 buffy (often white) ; black jugular crescent averaging 

 decidedly narrower ; and yellow deeper. 



Nest and Eggs, — Nest: On ground beneath a tus- 

 sock of grass or weeds ; constructed of grass, usually 

 roughly arched with same material. Eggs : 3 to 7, 

 white, spotted all over in varying amount with shades 

 of brown and purple. 



Distribution. — Western United States, southwestern 

 British Provinces, east to prairie districts of Mississippi 

 Valley, in Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Indian Territory, 

 and Te.xas {occasionally to Illinois, Wisconsin, and 

 southern Michigan, accidentally to Massachusetts?); 

 north to southern British Columbia, southern Alberta, 

 southwestern Saskatchewan, and western Manitoba; 

 south over northern Me.\ico. 



Every once in a while, well-meaning person.s 

 arise to remark that the Bald Eagle is not a fit 

 emblem for this country, because he is a robber, 



Photo by H. T. Middleton 



MEADOWLARK IN SNOWDRIFT 



an eater of carrion, and so on. Then they stig- 

 gest a substitute. One of these substitutes who, 

 a few years ago, had many champions, was the 

 Meadowlark, because, as his friends truthfully 

 averred, he is a beautiful bird and a highly use- 

 ful one, with no bad habits ; besides which he is 

 known, in slightly variant forms, throughout 

 Uncle Sam's domains, and finally because he is 

 distinctly a bird of the Americas. All of this was 

 interesting, and especially the fact that the Mead- 

 owlark's kind is not to be found outside of this 

 hemisphere ; but for all that, the Bald Eagle ap- 

 parently was never in serious danger of losing 

 his political job. 



The Meadowlark has, however, a just claim on 



the respect and affections of the people whose 

 cottntry he adorns, and in whose fields he is a 

 characteristic and conspicuous figure. If you 

 see him plainly in the grass, before he takes wing, 

 you can hardly miss his fine yellow breast with 

 its sharply drawn crescent of glossy black ; and 

 when he springs into tlie air and speeds away in 

 his peculiar half-fluttering, half-sailing flight, the 

 white outer tail-featliers are equally conspicu- 

 ous. Furthermore, you will notice — if you are 

 observant — that on the ground he neither hops 

 nor runs, but always walks, a style of locomo- 

 tion which is comparatively uncommon among 

 birds ; and that immediately tjpon alighting he 

 flirts his tail vigorously once or twice, thereby 

 showing again the white oitter feathers. 



Though most of the Meadowlarks obey their 

 migratory instinct, it is not at all uncommon to 

 find the species in meadows covered with snow 

 and swept by the pitiless winds of the coldest 

 winters. From this you may know that he is a 

 hardy bird, and you should guess, also, that he 

 is a great eater of weed-seeds. 



The Eastern Meadowlark is no such singer, to 

 be sure, as is his neighbor, the Bobolink, yet 

 there is infinite and invariable cheerfulness in 

 his characteristic whistled phrase, which is 

 always slurred. The Western Lark has a beau- 

 tiful warbling song, very suggestive of the Balti- 

 more Oriole but more prolonged. It rivals that 

 of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. By this differ- 

 ence of song you may distinguish between the 

 two forms. 



