MEADOWLARk. 



fore the rusty-colored females put in an appearance; 

 then, as might be expected, the conversation waxes 

 lively, and the competitors for mates have a great deal 

 to say about themselves for nearly a month or so before 

 the mating begins. This is sometimes as late as the end 

 of the first week in May. About the first part of August 

 the birds have finished with all domestic cares, and have 

 begun a desultory career in the open country near the 

 coast ; two months after this they are on the march 

 south again. 



Meadowlark The Meadowlark, sometimes called the 

 Field Lark, is a plump, sharp-billed, low- 

 'L^IO.'JS inches forehaaded bird, whose colors are a perfect 

 All the year symphony in light browns and yellows. 

 A band of buff divides the crown into two equal parts, 

 each of which is bordered by a broader buff band, which 

 merges into yellow just above the front of the eye; the 

 sides of the face are grayish; back a mixture of black 

 brown and buff -gray, the black predominating; wings 

 like the back, but brokenly barred; middle tail feathers 

 the same, but the outer ones partly white; throat and 

 under parts lemon yellow, separated by a broad crescent 

 of black. In winter these colors are greatly modified 

 with a brownish tone. The sexes are alike. Nest on 

 the ground among tall grasses; it is wholly constructed 

 of dry grass, and is sometimes arched like that of the 

 Ovenbird. Egg white with specks of cinnamon brown. 

 The bird is broadly distributed from the coast westward 

 to Minnesota, Illinois, and Louisiana. The Western 

 Meadowlark is a distinct species, with an entirely differ- 

 ent, and, according to Mr. Ernest E. Thompson, a far 

 more beautiful song.* 



There is an unquestionably pathetic, if not mournful, 

 song among those which rise from our meadows in 

 spring and early summer which may at once be attrib- 

 uted to the Meadowlark. Like the Wood Pewee, this 

 bird is one whose slurred whistle conveys an impression 

 quite the opposite of cheerf ulness. The strain is a dolo- 

 rous one to an ear listening for the minor key in Nature, 

 * See his Birds of Manitoba. 

 57 



