GKNUS 41. ALAUDA. LARK, 



SPECIES 1. d. MAGN&* 



MEADOW LARK. 



[Plate XIX. Fig. 2.] 



LINN. Syst. 289. Crescent Stare, Arct. Zool. 330. JVo. 192. -LA- 

 THAM, in, 6. Var. A. Le Fer-a-cheval, ou Merle, a Collier d?Ame- 

 rique, BUFF, in, p. 371. CATESB. Car. i, pi. 33. BARTRAM, p. 

 290. -PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 5212. 



THOUGH this well-known species cannot boast of the powers of 

 song which distinguish that " harbinger of day," the Sky Lark 

 of Europe, yet in richness of plumage, as well as in sweetness 

 of voice (as far as his few notes extend), he stands eminently 

 its superior. He diners from the greater part of his tribe in 

 wanting the long straight hind claw, which is probably the rea- 

 son why he has been classed, by some late naturalists, with the 

 Starlings. But in the particular form of his bill, in his manners, 

 plumage, mode and place of building his nest, nature has clear- 

 ly pointed out his proper family. 



This species has a very extensive range; having myself found 

 them in Upper Canada, and in each of the states from New 

 Hampshire to New Orleans. Mr. Bartram also informs me that 

 they are equally abundant in East Florida. Their favourite pla- 

 ces of retreat are pasture fields and meadows, particularly the 

 latter, which have conferred on them their specific name; and no 



* JUanda magna, LINN. Sysl, i, p. 167. Ed. 10. GJIEI. Sysl. i, p. 801. 

 Merula Americana lorquata, BRISS. 4t>. u, p- 242. No. 15. (Summer dress,) 

 Sturnus ludovicianus, LINN. Syst. i, p. 290. G.IIEL. Si/sf. i, p. 802. BIUSSON, 

 n, p. 449. 4. l. 42. /. I. LATH. Ind. Orn. i, 323,Elourneau de la Louisiane 

 BUFF, in, p. 192. ~ PI. Enl. 256. (winter plumage.) 



