CHAPTER XV. 



MEADOW-LARKS AND PARTRIDGES. 



(Genus Sturnella: Perdicinw.) 



E have in this country, as elsewhere, quite an extensive 

 list of birds that, although they are not considered by 

 true sportsmen to be typical game birds, yet they are 

 very generally shot by gunners not only for table use, 

 but for sale in the game markets where they are frequently dis- 

 played. Some of these are esteemed by many to be very excel- 

 lent eating, and the truth of the matter is, it is not easy to draw 

 a hard and fast line between what a stickler among sportsmen 

 and an all-round gunner would call game. 



In my time I have met with people who were very fond of 

 nighthawks (Chordeiles), and would spend a whole evening in 

 shooting a sufficient number of these caprimulgine birds for their 

 table; while upon the other hand, most surely wild pigeons, 

 turtle doves, the smaller plovers, and sandpipers come far nearer 

 to being true game. It is in this latter list that the Meadow-lark 

 belongs, rather than with other pseudo-game birds, as robins, 

 flickers, blackbirds, and coots. 



In the present chapter it is my intention to write of the natural 

 history of the meadow-larks, and while upon this subject of game 

 birds it may be said that they offer not a few characters and hab- 

 its that almost entitle them to a place upon the list with them. 

 First of all, if the birds be not too old, they are by no means an 

 indifferent fowl upon the table, and in truth two-third grown 

 ones are excellent eating, having the qualities of sufficient size 

 and tender flesh. During the autumn months, and in those 

 fields where the meadow-grass is not too meager and short, these 

 birds will occasionally stand for a dog, but they cannot invari- 

 ably be relied upon for this, and will most often run through the 

 verdure ahead of the. animal, to arise at will further off. When 

 once in the air, however, and within range, they offer tempting 

 shots and not always easy targets. Sometimes in flight they are 

 quite erratic enough to suit the tastes of the most fastidious of 

 sportsmen; often-this flight is more than swift, while usually, as 

 noted by AVilson, it is " in the manner of the Grouse and Par- 



