506 ORNITDOLOGY. 



mento City, where it was excessively abundant, along with the A. (juhcnm- 

 tor and Xanthocephalus icterocephalus, among the tales near the river. The 

 individuals of this species were easily distinguished by their different appear- 

 ance, while their notes were strikingly dissimilar. 



StUUNELLA NEGLECTxV. 

 liVcstcrii ITIciidovv-L.ai-k. 



{Se-soo' -te-tja' -khk of the Washoes; Pah' -at-sc' -tone of the Paiutes.) 

 Sturnella negkcta, Aijdubon, B. Am., VII, 1843, 3:30, pi. 4S7.— IJaikd, Birds N. 



Am., 1858, 537; Uatal., 1859, No. 407.— Cooper, Oni. Cul., I, 1.S70, 270. 

 Sturnella magna xav.neglecia. Cottes, Key, 1872, 157 ; Olieck List, 1873, No. 2I4ii.— 



B. B. «& R., Hist. N. Am. B., II, 1874, 170, pi. xxxiv, tig. 1.— IIenshaw, 1875, 



317. 

 Sturnella magna, b. neglecta., CoUES, B. N.W., 1874, 190. 



The Western Meadow Lark is a generally-distributed species, since 

 it occurs wherever there are grassy tracts, as well as in the sage-brush 

 of the more fertile districts; it is much less conmion in tlie mountains, 

 however, than in the lower valleys, and we do not remember meeting with 

 it higher up than an altitude of 7,000 feet. So far as general habits are 

 concerned, it is a counterpart of the eastern species (S. magna), but its notes 

 are most strikingly different, while it exhibits some very noticeable pecu- 

 liarities of manners. It is a much more familiar bird than its eastern 

 relative, and we observed that the manner of its flight differed in an 

 important respect, the bird flitting along with a comparatively steady, 

 though trembling, flutter, instead of propelling itself by occasional spas- 

 modic beatings of the wings, then extending them horizontally during the 

 intervals between these beats, as is the well-known manner of flight of the 

 eastern species. 



All observers, we believe, from the earliest explorers to those of the 

 present time, agree as to the wide difference in the notes of the Western 

 Meadow Lark from those of the eastern bird ; and this we consider to be a 

 sufflcient evidence of specific diversity, notwithstanding the close similarity 

 of general appearance— especially if taken in connection with tlie other 

 differences alluded to, and the equally important fact, attested by many 

 writers, that in the region where the habitats of the two forms adjoin they 



