MEADOW-LARK. 41 
lark is very much the color of the dead grass that 
covers the ground when he first comes north, and 
of the dry stubble lett after the summer mowing, 
he is somewhat hard to see. When you have 
found him, it is a delightful surprise to see that 
the brownish yellow disguise of his back is re- 
lieved, not, indeed, by a sable robe like the bobo- 
link’s, but by a throat of brilliant yellow, set off 
by a large black crescent. 
The meadow-lark has two notable characteris- 
tics. Belonging to the blackbird family, he is a 
walker, and when he flies you will see that he is 
also one of the few birds marked by prominent 
white outer tail feathers. The peculiarities of his 
labored flight are exactly described by Shelley 
