THE WESTERN MEADOWL ARK. 63 



No. 22. 

 WESTERN MEADOWLARK. 



A. O. U. No. 501. 1. Sturnella neglecta Audubon. 



Synonyms. — Field Lauk. Old-fii;u) L.\rk. MiiOL.AUK. JNIkdlak (i;octi- 

 cal ). MiuuAKK (corruption). 



Description. — .-idiilt male: General color of upperparts browni.sh black 

 iiiodilicd by much tawny and bufty-gray edgings of the feathers whicli tiirow tlie 

 blaclc into stripes and bars with suggestion of herring-bone pattern ; the tawny 

 heaviest on secondaries and upper tail-feathers where taking the form of partial 

 bands, a median crown stripe and posterior portion of superciliary sordid white 

 or huffy; anterior ])ortion of su]jerciliary, cheeks, chin, upper throat, breast 

 (broadly) and middle belly rich lemon yellow (inclining to orange in .'Ider 

 specimens); a large black crescent on upper breast; sides and Hanks black- 

 streaked and s])otted with pale brown on a buffy or whitish ground, liill 

 variegated, tawny, bkick and white, female: Like male but .smaller and paler 

 with some substitutions of brown for black in streaknig; black of jugulum veiled 

 by grayish tips of feathers; yellow of breast duller, etc. The plumage of both 

 se.xes is duller in fall and winter, the normal colors being restrained by buffy 

 overlay. Length of adult male: lo.oo-ii.oo (254-279.4); wing 4.85 ( 123.2); 

 tail 3.00 (76.2) ; bill 1.30 (23) ; tarsus 1.46 (37.1). Female smaller. 



Recognition Marks. — Robin size ; yellow breast with black collar distinctive ; 

 general streaky appearance above; yellow cheeks as distinguished from the 

 Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella mayiiaj. 



Nesting. — Xest: on the ground in thick grass or weeds; a slight depression 

 lined (carefully or not) and u.sually overarched with dried grasses. Egys: 4-6, 

 white, speckled and spotted, sometimes very sparingly, with cinnamon brown or 

 purplish; very variable in shape, ellii)tical ovate to almost round. Av. size, 1.12 x 

 .80 (28.5x20.3). Season: .April and June; two broods. Tacoma, .April 3, 1906, 

 4 fresh eggs. 



General Range. — Western United States, southwestern British Provinces, and 

 northwe>tcrn Mexico, east to prairie districts of Mississippi Valley, Minnesota, 

 Iowa. .Missduri, etc.. occasionally to Illinois and AFichigan; breeding thruout its 

 range. 



Range in Washington. — Abundant east and west of the Cascades; largely 

 resident on the \\ est-side, ])artia!ly on the Kast-side ; niuiibers augmented from 

 the south during last week in February. ^ 



Authorities. — [Lewis and Clark, Hist. Ex. (1814), Ed. Biddle: Cones. 

 \'ol II. p. 186. 1 Sturnella neglecta Aud., Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, 

 539. T. C(!tS. L^ Rh. D'. Sr. Ra. D^ Ss'. Ss-'. Kk. B. E. 



Specimens.— (I", of W.) Prov. B. E. BN. P'. 



SI .M .\1 1'".l\ silences the birds so gradiialK' and we ourselves have become 

 so niucli .absiirhcd in business during the ])rc)S\- days of September that we 



