Field Notes 155 



seems to have but one song (at least for on*^ day), which he 

 repeats at short intervals thro.ughout the spring months. How- 

 ever, in a large neld one can hear a dozen Larks all singing 

 a different tune at the same time. 



Now if we were to take these songs, put them together, and 

 assume that they were given by one bird we would have quite an 

 interesting one-sided conversation. It would run something like 

 this: We see the Meadowlark standing on a post repeating, "0/(. 

 yes, I am- a lyretttj-little-bird " (the " prcity-little-bird" winds up 

 with a trill). In a moment he says, '' Fm-going to-cat pretty-soon." 

 Then, suiting the action to the word, he drops out of sight into 

 the grass, and presently we hear him say, "7 cut 'im clean off. I 

 cut 'im clean off'' (this is often followed by " Yui)"). He flies back 

 to his perch with a bug in his bill, and when he has deliberately 

 eaten it, he — in a fast, sing-song and unmusical voice — says, " It 

 makes me feel very good.'' From another portion of the field a 

 voice calls. "Hey. come here, you rcd-lieadcd Coolie!" It is prob- 

 ably the irate "Mrs." After hastily cautioning us, "You needn't 

 shoot my brother Bill." the hen-pecked (we imagine) husband flies 

 away with a sputtering note, leaving us with a good opinion of his 

 work as a bug destroyer and musician.* 



The average bird's song is given so rapidly and is of such a 

 bird-like quality that an attempt to put it into words is quite im- 

 possible if the writer would have his- readers understand them as 

 he writes them. With the Meadowlark it is different; the notes 

 are given plainly and with about the same speed as the human 

 voice talks, so are easily put into words. 



Frkd J. Pierce. 



Winthrop, Iowa. 



AllE BIRDS WEATHER PROPHETS? 



In looking Through an old record book, I found a curious note 

 about birds oiling their feathers before a storm. It is of an 

 interrogative nature, and I pass it on to the reader with the hope 

 that it will at least be of interest, even though no conclusions 

 are reached. 



It seems I had heard some one say that birds were endowed 

 with remarkable powers of observation, could tell when a stornj 

 was approaching, and had forethought enough to use their secre- 

 tion of oil on their feathers to make them more waterproof. This 

 wierd and, as perhaps I should say, unreasonable story, interested 

 me. One lady told me that she had watched Mourning Doves 

 industriously oil their coats before a mid-summer rain, but further 



* Manv other phrases a.re in common use with Meadow'arks, 

 but the one^ given above are th3 ones most frequently heard and 

 easily understood. 



