THE MEADOW LARK. 



"Not an inch of his body is free from delight. 

 Can he keep himself still if he would ? Oh, not he ! 

 The music stirs in him like wind through a tree." 



Q) 



(^ HE well known Meadow or 

 Old Field Lark is a con- 

 stant resident south of lati- 

 tude 39, and many winter 

 farther north in favorite localities. 

 Its geographical range is eastern 

 North America, Canada to south Nova 

 Scota, Quebec, and Ontario to eastern 

 Manitoba ; west to Minnesota, Iowa, 

 IMissouri, eastern Kansas, the Indian 

 Territory, and Texas ; south to Florida 

 and the Gulf coast, in all of which 

 localities, except in the extreme north, 

 it usually rears two or three broods in 

 a season. In the Northern States it 

 is only a summer resident, arriving in 

 April and remaining until the latter 

 part of October and occasionally 

 November. Excepting during the 

 breeding season, small flocks may 

 often be seen roving about in search 

 of good feeding grounds. ISIajor Ben- 

 dire says this is especially true in the 

 fall of the year. At this time several 

 families unite, and as many as two 

 dozen may occasionally be flushed in 

 a field, over which they scatter, roam- 

 ing about independently of each other. 

 When one takes wing all the others 

 in the vicinity follow. It is a shy 

 bird in the East, wdiile in the middle 

 states it is quite the reverse. Its flight 

 is rather laborious, at least in starting, 

 and is continued by a series of rapid 

 movements of the wings, alternating 

 with short distances of sailing, and is 

 rarely protracted. On alighting, which 

 is accompanied with a twitching of its 

 tail, it usually settles on some fence 

 rail, post, boudler, weedstock, or on 

 a hillock in a meadow from which it 

 can get a good view of the surround- 

 ings, and but rarely on a limb of a 

 tree. Its favorite resorts are meadows, 

 fallow fields, pastures, and clearings, 

 but in some sections, as in northern 



Florida,for instance,it also frequents the 

 low, open pine woods and nests there. 



The song of the Meadow Lark is 

 not much varied, but its clear, whist- 

 ling notes, so frequently heard in the 

 early spring, are melodious and pleas- 

 ing to the ear. It is decidedly the 

 farmers' friend, feeding, as it does, on 

 noxious insects, caterpillers, moths, 

 grasshoppers, spiders, worms and the 

 like, and eating but little grain. The 

 lark spends the greater part of its 

 time on the ground, procuring all its 

 food there. It is seldom found alone, 

 and it is said remains paired for life. 



Nesting begins in the early part of 

 ]\Iay and lasts through June. Both 

 sexes assist in building the nest, which 

 is always placed on the ground, either 

 in a natural depression, or in a little 

 hollow scratched out by the birds, 

 alongside a bunch of grass or weeds. 

 The nest itself is lined with dry grass, 

 stubble, and sometimes pine needles. 

 ]\Iost nests are placed in level meadows. 



I The eggs and young are frequently 

 destroyed by vermin, for the meadow 

 lark has many enemies. The eggs 

 vary from three to seven, five being 

 the most common, and both sexes as- 

 sist in the hatching, which requires 

 about fifteen or sixteen days. The 

 young leave the nest before they are 

 able to fly — hiding at the slightest 

 sitjn of danw-er. The Meadow Lark 

 does not migrate beyOnd the United 

 States. It is a native bird, and is only 

 accidental in England. The eggs 

 are spotted, blotched, and speckled 

 with shades of brown, purple and 

 lavender. A curious incident is told 

 of a Meadow Lark trying to alight on 

 the top mast of a schooner several 

 miles at sea. It was evidently very tired 

 but would not venture near the deck. 



105 



