AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



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pours forth a quaint, varied run, containing some gurgling notes which 

 sound as if there was water in his larynx, or as if the palpitating air 

 were thrown back upon itself and churned into music by some peculiar 

 muscular movement of the windpipe. The eastern bird seldom varies 

 his song, and even when he does, the change does not amount to a great 

 deal ; not so with his gifted relative of the west, which rolls one distinct 

 tune after another from his wonderful throat, sometimes chanting three 

 or four different tunes in as many minutes, although his usual habit is 

 to repeat one strain several times and then suddenly take up another." 



It must be admitted — for even the most ardent lover of the birds 

 should be honest — that some of the western lark's airs are odd rather 

 than musical ; but others are exceedingly sweet and melodious, almost 

 bringing a shout of delighted surprise from an auditor. Some run very 

 high in the scale, while others are tuned to a much lower key. 



One evening in June I was rambling among the foothills near Colo, 

 rado Springs, Colorado, when a western lark piped five different tunes 

 of rare beauty and power in as many minutes, all of them delivered with 

 an air which seemed to say, "There ! I want you to know what I can do 

 in the way of vocal gymnastics." If our bird is a little self-conscious, 

 it does not in the least detract from his minstrelsy. 



In another respect he differs from our eastern fluter. You are 

 doubtless familiar with the eastern lark's sputtering alarm-call, which 

 you may hear almost any time that you enter his precincts, especially 

 if there are nests with eggs or young hidden somewhere in the grass. 

 The tenant of the western plains does not " sputter ;" instead, he utters 

 a harsh chack very much like the protest of the crow blackbird. On 

 several occasions I have heard one of these birds utter a loud, pro- 

 longed call which sounded almost like a wail. 



The nesting habits of the two species are similar, the pretty crib 

 being set on the ground, more or less carefully concealed in the grass, 

 and often skillfully arched over from the rear- 



One of the questions that has puzzled the scientists and caused some 

 dispute among them is, whether the eastern and western forms are dis- 

 tinct species or only varieties. My own opinion is that they are en- 

 titled to the honor of being called distinct species, and that they do not 

 mingle together in the marriage relation. Here are some reasons for 

 this view : 



First, as has been said, there is a striking difference in their songs- 

 Much as I have listened to them, I am forced to say that the eastern 

 larks almost always pipe the same tune, whether on a Kansas prairie or 

 in an Ohio meadow. This is true even where the two species are des- 

 canting in the same field and at the same moment- On the other hand. 



