136 NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. 



out while the bird is poising on the wing, and 

 at other times while he is sweeping along in 

 straight flight, and is always sent forth in a 

 kind of ecstasy. 



If you get a chance, watch the meadow lark 

 during his vocal performance, and you will 

 notice that he usually opens and closes his 

 mandibles twice during the brief strain, open- 

 ing them widely when he strikes the high 

 notes and bringing them almost together when 

 he emits the lower ones. This will prove that, 

 after all, the song is not a whistle produced 

 with the mandibles in some way, as might be 

 supposed, but a real voice tone, emitted di- 

 rectly from the throat. The same thing is true 

 of the songs of all birds — the mandibles are 

 thrown far apart to produce the high notes, 

 as you can easily prove for yourselves if you 

 will watch the brown thrasher, towhee bunt- 

 ing, bush sparrow, and so on, while they are 

 singing. 



Where would you look for the nests of 

 these birds ? Always on the ground. And 

 very neat nurseries they usually are, though 

 some individuals seem to be better architects 

 than others. For instance, I found a nest in 

 a pasture field where the cattle had cro^Dped 

 the grass quite short, so that the bird domicile 



