THE LARK SPARROW. 



DUSTY roadsides, sunny pastures and areas of broken ground harbor 

 this plainly colored bird from the time of its late arrival in spring until the 

 young are ready to fly. As the heat of summer increases the birds retire to the 

 seclusion of sparsely wooded pastures or fence-row thickets. 



The males sing upon arrival, selecting for this purpose a station upon the 

 summit of some outlying tree. The song is best described in the words of 

 Mr. Ridgway who had ample opportunity to study it in Illinois and the ex- 

 treme AYest, and who has done more than anyone else to bring the bird into 



well-deserved prominence. He says 1 : "This song is composed of a series of 

 chants, each syllable rich, loud and clear, interrupted with emotional trills. 

 At the beginning the song reminds one somewhat of that of the Indigo Bird 

 ( Passcrina cyanca) but the notes are louder and more metallic, and their deliv- 

 ery more vigorous. Though seemingly hurried, it is one continuous gush of 

 sprightly music ; now gay, now melodious, and then tender beyond description, 

 the very expression of emotion. At intervals the singer 'falters, as if ex- 

 hausted^ by exertion, and his voice becomes scarcely audible : but suddenly 



1 "Birds of Illinois," Vol I, p. 262. 



