MEADOWLARK 409 



Western Meadowlark. Sturnella neglecta Audubon 



Field characters. — Of chunky build, with stout bill, legs, and feet, and short wings 

 and tail. Under surface bright yellow, with a large black crescent across breast; head 

 with three parallel light stripes, one over each eye and a third over crown ; upper surface 

 brown, streaked and barred with black and buff; margin of tail white, showing best in 

 flight. Flight direct with continuous and rapid beating of wings; when on ground walks 

 instead of hopping. Voice: An elaborate, clear, rolling song of 8 to 12 notes; a clear 

 whistle; a short chuck'; a chuckling, throaty chr-r-r-r-r; also various combinations of 

 these notes. 



Occurrence. — Common resident west of the Sierras in the Lower and Upper Sonoran 

 zones; also in smaller numbers east of Sierras, at Walker Lake, Parker Creek, Mono 

 Lake Post Office, etc. During the fall months single vagrant birds have been observed 

 in Yosemite Valley, on Tuolumne Meadows, and even on a pass at 9700 feet altitude near 

 Ten Lakes (October 11, 1915). One individual was seen in the Valley between June 20 

 and 25, 1893 (Emerson, 1893, p. 180) ; in 1920 single birds were noted there on May 23 

 and November 12 and 15, and two on October 30 (C. W. Michael, MS). Lives on open 

 grassy plains, meadows, and pasturelands. 



The Western Meadowlark is by far the most conspicuous and at the 

 same time the most pleasing songster to be found on the grassy plains 

 of the San Joaquin Vallej^ or on the raeadowlands of the Sierran foothills. 

 It easily surpasses in vocal attainments any of its blackbird or oriole 

 relatives, and compares favorably with the best of the forest and cailon 

 earollers. Travelers who go to Yosemite by railroad have excellent oppor- 

 tunities to observe the species from the train windows anywhere through 

 the San Joaquin Valley, especially between Merced and the foothills ; while 

 the autoist may see the birds in numbers along any of the several roadways 

 leading into the mountains. The bright flashes of yellow glimpsed as the 

 birds whir away across the fields, and the snatches of wonderfully melodious 

 song heard above the noise of train or machine, serve only to increase 

 one's desire to see and hear more of this justly famed songster. 



Although essentially a ground dwelling species, as is indicated by its 

 stout legs and feet, the meadowlark often seeks a perch on a fence or 

 in the top of a tree adjacent to its chosen haunts. When so perched it 

 commonly utters various of its shorter calls and whistles, accompanying 

 each utterance by a quick spread of the tail, sufficient to flash into view 

 the white areas on the outermost feathers. 



The Western Meadowlark is for the most part a resident species here, 

 being found in the same situations throughout the year. Those individuals 

 which summer on the smaller meadows at the lower edge of the Transition 

 Zone are probably forced by the snows of winter to descend to lower 

 elevations, but this is the only seasonal change in the local distribution 

 of the species. The large flocks which are to be seen in the fall and winter 



