DIRECTORY TO BIEDS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 199 



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a. Meadow Larks. Sturnella. 



Bill, long and flattened at tip, wings long; tail, short; 

 feet, large. 



1. MEADOW Fig. 260. 



LARK, S. MAGNA. 



10.40; reddish- 

 brown above 

 s t r eak e d w i t h 

 dark-brown ; yel- 

 low beneath, black CC, C, a, 3. 

 crescent on breast ; outer tail feathers, white, fig. 262. East- 

 ern U. S. from Canada to Fla. Winters from Mass. southward. 

 Comes north in March, south in Oct. Frequents open fields. 

 Nests on ground ; eggs, white, spotted with brown. Call song, 

 " You canH see me'''' rather high and prolonged; a sharp chat- 

 ter when alarmed ; a song, rarely heard, often, possibly al- 

 ways, given on the wing, consisting of a continuous sweet 

 warble. Flight direct, with rapid downward wing-beats, 

 sometimes sailing. 



Fig. 261. Fig. 262. 



CC, D, a, 1. 1-4. CC, E, a, 1. 1-5. 



1*. FLORIDA MEADOW LARK, S. m. argutula. 

 Si3»aller than 1 and much darker above and more yellow be- 

 low. Fla. and Gulf Coast to La. Call song, shorter and not 

 as loud as 1, '"''See me hear'''' rather plaintively given. Occurs 

 in open savannas and pine woods. 



