VOL. XIII, 



1890. 



] PliOCEEDlNGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 579 



first on the prairies of the Assiuaboiue I heard the voice of the Meadow- 

 Lark of the West. 



Oue writer compares it with the rich- voiced wood-thrush ; auother, 

 with the gifted mocking-bird, and again parts of its song have been 

 likened to the soft warbling of the blue bird. But nearly all of this 

 qualified praise is from the pen of passing travelers, few of whom 

 have, like the writer, spent season after season with the bird, hearing 

 its spring greeting and its fall farewell, resting so near to its nest as 

 to hear its vesper warble, its midnight song of peace, and its salute to 

 dawning day. Few have actually witnessed the song cont^^sts of the 

 rival birds, and fewer still have overheard the soft consoling lay of the 

 male to his sitting mate. 



In listening to each of these \'aried effusions again and again, I have 

 been peculiarly fortunate, and each season si)ent on the prairies has 

 intensified the admiration I felt for our bird; for, though indeed it 

 will not compare with the skylark in continuity of inspiration, it is 

 second to nothing else. In richness of voice and modulation it equals 

 or excels both wood-thrush and nightingale, and in the power and 

 beauty of its articulation it has no superior in the whole world of feath- 

 ered choristers with which I am acquainted. The more I heard of its 

 melody the deeper was the admiration with which it inspired me, until 

 at length I have learned to look on our lark as the noblest of bird- 

 musicians, and the very incarnation of the wild, free spirit of the 

 West. 



No bird is more characteristic of the prairies than the Meadow-lark (SturucUa 

 neglecta). It is very common in summer and breeds abundantly. It« clear, niusital 

 whistle (almost, if not quite equal to the song of the uightiugale) is uttered by the 

 bird either when upon the wing, the ground, or a tree, and may be heard for a great 

 distance. Towards the end of August, though the birds had not left, they had 

 largely ceased whistling ; but the arrival of a few warm days, about the 10th of 

 September, set them off again for a time. When I left, about the middle of October, 

 there were still a few small family parties about, though the great mnjority had 

 gone south. It is decidedly a shy bird, even in a country where most birds are nota- 

 bly less wary than in England; and, common as the bird is, it is no easy matter to 

 obtain a specimen just when one wants. Late in July I. shot a youug specimen with a 

 large festering sore on its breast, doubtless caused by its having accidentally down 

 agaiust a spike on oue of the numerous " barb-wire " fences on which this bird fre- 

 quently perches. Not long after I shot a Purple Gracklo with an old wound on its 

 head, which was probably occasioned by the same means. I have often thought 

 what a capital thing it would be to introduce the Meadow Lark into England. So 

 far as plumage and song are concerned, it would take rank among our brightest 

 colored and most admired songsters : while its hardy nature would allow of its re- 

 maining with us the whole year round, as indeed it often does in Ontario and other 

 districts farther south than Manitoba. Perfectly harmless and accustomed to grassy 

 countries, it would quickly become naturalized in our meadows, where it would 

 find an abundance of insect food, and would doubtless soon increase sufficiently in 

 numbers to serve, if need be, as a game and food bird, as it largely does in the United 

 States. No other songster that I ever heard equals this bird in the sweetness and 

 mellowness of its notes. (Christy.) 



