Bird Study 83 



how to distinguish it from the flicker. The notes must be made by the 

 pupils in the field, and after they know the bird and its song let them, if 

 they have opportunity, study the bird books and bulletins, and prepare 

 written accounts of the way the meadow-lark builds its nest and of its 

 economic value. 



Observations — i. Where have you seen the meadow-lark? Did 

 you ever see it in the woods? Describe its flight. How can you identify 

 it by color when it is flying? How do its white patches and its flight 

 differ from those of the flicker? 



2. Try and imitate the meadow-lark's notes by song or whistle. 

 Does it sing while on the ground, or on a bush or fence, or during flight? 



3. Note the day when you hear its last song in the fall and also its 

 first song in the spring. Does it sing during August and September? 

 Why? Where does it spend the winter? On what does it feed while in 

 the South? How are our meadow-larks treated when on their southern 

 sojourn? 



4. Is the meadow-lark larger or smaher than the robin? Describe 

 from your own observation, as far as possible, the colors of the meadow- 

 lark as follows: Top of head; line above the eye; back; wings; tail; 

 throat; breast; locket; color and shape of beak. Make a sketch of your 

 own or a copy from Louis Fuertes' excellent picture of the meadow-lark in 

 the Audubon Leaflet, and color it accurately. 



5. When is the nest built; where is it placed; of what materialis it 

 built ? How is it protected from sight from above ? Why this protection, 

 How^ many eggs? What are their colors and markings? 



6. What is the food of the meadow-lark? Copy the diagram from 

 the Audubon leaflet, showing the proportions of the different kinds of 

 insects which it destroys. Why should the farmers of the South also 

 protect the meadow-lark by law? 



Supplementary reading — Audubon Education Leaflet No. 3; Farmers' 

 Buhetin No. 54, U. S. Dept. of Agr.; "A Pioneer," in Nestlings of Forest 

 and Marsh, Wheelock. 



Sweet, sweet, sweet! O happy that I am! 



{Listen to the meadow-larks, across the fields that sing!) 

 Sweet, sweet, sweet! O subtle breath of balm, 



O winds that blow, O buds that grow, O rapture of the spring! 



Sweet, sweet, sweet! O happy ivorld that is! _ _ 



Dear heart, I hear across the fields my matchng pipe and call. 



Sweet, sweet, sweet! O world so full of bliss. 



For life is love, the world is love, and love ts over all! 



— Ina Coolbrith. 



