348 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



and departing in late October. The actual number of indi- 

 viduals occurring is few, and they are scattered. For instance, 

 within a radius of forty miles of Bangor there are only three 

 pair that I know of. It is possible that they are somewhat 

 commoner in Cumberland and York Counties, but an actual 

 census even there would not show a very large number of 

 individuals. 



Here in Maine they prefer to frequent the fields, pastures, 

 and more seldom the meadows. The male may generally be 

 observed perched on a fence or in a treetop overlooking his 

 home and frequently singing his pleasing lay of seven to twelve 

 notes. They also have a song or call of three to four whistled 

 notes. Their usual calls are a " peent " uttered quickly and 

 nasally and also a " witter-witter-wit " uttered in a jerky grat- 

 ing tone, usually accompanied by a nervous twitching of the 

 tail and wings. 



The so-called Sturnella magna neglecta of the west which is 

 recognized as a subspecies in the A. O. U. List is really a most 

 distinct species in every way, the Sturnella neglecta Aud. It 

 differs markedly in habits, song and general appearance as 

 well as size, but because a few individuals have happened to 

 hybridize and their ranges to overlap in the Plains region the 

 authorities have chosen to consider the western bird a sub- 

 species instead of a good species while they continue to recog- 

 nize as good species the hair-split and barely recognizable 

 island forms of Warblers, Finches and Sparrows found on 

 certain islands of the Pacific, because forsooth they do not 

 hybridize or intermix or their ranges do not overlap. But to 

 return to our Maine Meadowlark again. 



The nesting season in Maine is in June or July, usually 

 early in June, the later layings being probably due to some 

 accident to the earlier set as there is no good evidence of a 

 second brood being reared. The nest is placed on the ground 

 in a slight hollow at the foot of a tussock of grass in a field or 

 pasture or at the foot of a small bush along the line between 



