274 CITIZEN BIRD 



" Please, can't I have my shoes off too ? " begged 

 Dodo. " I love to wade like the boys ! " 



'' By and by, on the beach ; but what if a frog or 

 an eel should touch your foot, or a sharp straw stick in 

 it — are you enough of a boy not to scream ? " 



Dodo was not sure, and thought she would begin 

 by riding. 



The Meadow^lark 



Length ten to eleven inches. 



Upper parts marked with brown, bay, gray, and black ; head 

 striped, with a yellow^ spot in front of the eye ; wing-feathers near- 

 est the body, and most of the tail-feathers, scalloped with black and 

 gray, but the outside tail-feathers white. 



Under parts nearly all yellow, with a black crescent on the 

 breast, but further back flaxen-brown, with dark stripes. 



Bill stout where it runs up on the forehead, but tapering to the 

 point. 



A Citizen of the United States and Canada. 



A good and useful neighbor. A famous member of the guild of 

 Ground Gleaners, its chief work being to kill bad insects which 

 eat the grass-roots in pastures and hay-fields. 



A beautiful bird and charming songster. 



