ICTERID.-F: — TlIK UUlULhS. 



17 



HAniTs. Tlu; (lincn'iKuvs of plumage liutwcfii this specu's and our ciisti'in 

 Meadow l.aik aiv so sliulit that we iiii«d»t hesitate to allow the existnicc oj" 

 any s])eciHc distinctness between the two toipis, were it not tor the very 

 strongly niarkt'(l ditfcrenees between them in t.thi'r respects. Whether we 

 regard tlie.n as races or as ditl'ei'ent species, their history diver«,'es as we cross 

 the Missouri lliver, tiiou^li l)otli are found on eitiier bank. 



The existence of this varietv was tirst made known l»v Messrs. Lewis and 

 riark, in their memorable expedition to the iJocky Mountains. They refer 

 esj>ecially to the ditference, in the n(»tes, between this bird ami the old Field 

 Lark of tlu; east, it remained nnnoticed by our ornitlndooists until LS44, 

 when Mr. Audui>on included it in the a]>pendi\ to his st'venth volume. He 

 met with it in his voya^^e to the Yellowstone, and it would have escaiKMl his 

 notice had not tlie attention of his party been called to its curious notes. 

 In its tli^Ljlit, maimers on the ^ronn«l, or general habits, he could perceive no 

 difference ln^tweeii it aiul tla; conjinon sjtecies. None of its nests that he 

 found were coveied over, in the manner of the niffi/iic, and the ej^gs were 

 difierently marked. 



Mr. J. A. Allen, in his interesting paper on the birds ob.served in Western 

 Iowa, while be does not admit any s]»ecifii' ditference between these two 

 forms, i>resents with imi)aitial exactness the very striking dissimilarity be- 

 tween them, both in haljits and in song. In regard to the diversity in hal>its 

 we (piot(^ his words : — 



"At the little village of Deni.son, wliere I tirst noticed it in song, it was 

 particularly common, and lialf domestic in its hai>its, preferring tlie streets 

 and gra.ssv lanes, and the immediate vicinity of the vilhe-e, to the remoter 

 prairie. Here, wholly nnmolested and unsuspicious, it collected its food ; 

 and tlu^ males, from their accustomed jierches on the li(»useto]ts, daily warbled 

 their wikl songs for hours together." These traits of familiarity, so totally 

 ditt'erent from anytbing ever observed in our eastern birds, he does not C(»n- 

 cede, however, as establishing necessarily s}»ecitic ditference. Yet he does ad- 

 mit that its song was so new to him that he did not at tirst have the slightest 

 suspicion that its ntterer was the western Meadow Lark, as he found it to be. 

 He adds : " It differs from that of the Meadow Lark in the Eastern States, 

 in the notes being louder and wilder, and at the same time more li<piid, mel- 

 lower, and far sweeter. They have a ]»ensiveness and a general character 

 remarkably in harmony with the halt-dreamy wildness of the ]»rimitive 

 prairie, as though the bird had received from its surroundings their })eculiar 

 impress. It differs, too, in the less freiiuency of the harsh, comjdaining 

 chatter so conspicuous in the ea.stern bird." 



The value of these marked ditlerences, b(»th in song and charriCter, between 

 the eastern and western birds, we will not ar«aie, but will onlv add that thev 

 are none too strikini>lv presented ]»y ^Ir. Allen. During the writer's brief 

 visit to the Plains he was .strongly impressed by the natural, confiding 

 trustfulness of this species and its wonderful beauty of song, both in 



vuL. II. 23 



