278 NOTES ON THE 



rice. About October 25th they move southward, but their 

 numbers are immediately re-supplied by others from still 

 further north, so that to the casual observer there is little 

 diminution until considerably later. Indeed a few do linger 

 until near, or even into December in occasional autumns. 



Mr. Lewis found them in myriads in Grant county in Sep- 

 tember, and still fairly represented on October 20th. 



Mr. Washburn found them the most abundant of their fam- 

 ily in the Red river valley in August, and still numerous asso- 

 ciates with brewers and the rusty blackbirds in Otter Tail 

 on October 25th. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



General uniform lustrous velvet-black, with a greenish 

 reflection; shoulders and lesser wing coverts bright crimson. 

 or Vermillion red; middle coverts brownish- yellow, and usually 

 paler towards the tips; tail much rounded, the lateral feathers 

 half an inch shorter; fourth quill longest; first about as long as 

 fifth; bill large and stout, half, or more than half as high as 

 long. 



Length, 9.50; wing, 5; tail, 4.15. 



Habitat, North America in general. 



STURNELLA MAGNA (L.). (501.) 



MEADOWLARK. 



The accidents of early associations and the idiosyncracies of 

 individual sensibility to the melody of bird-songs may account 

 for the diversity of the measure of welcome which different 

 birds meet upon their arrival in spring, yet to me it remains 

 unexplained that comparatively so few seem to appreciate the 

 arrival and presence of the Meadowlark. Braving the cold, 

 rough winds incident to these northern latitudes in the early days 

 of April, he drops down suddenly onto some slightly elevated 

 object, like a stone, an old ant hill, a low shrub or bush, or in 

 the absence of all these, onto about the third rail of a worm 

 fence along the roadway, and bursts into song. A single note 

 of it reaching the ear of those who know him, between the 

 gusts of high wind, arrests all attention, until its most wel- 

 come source is ascertained. The females are never long behind, 

 and as the season advances, the song, at first broken into con- 

 siderable intervals, grows more and more frequent until the 

 nesting time draws near, when mounting higher objects, like a 

 stake in the fence, a high bush, or even the topmost branch 

 of a medium sized shade tree, he sings his clear, limpid song, 



