BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 



205 



i 



s 



V 





The nesting season is a short one, and in .luly young and old begin 

 to gather in flocks in the marshes, where hiter tliey will be found, in 

 countless numbers, feeding on the wild rice. 



498b. A. p. brya>nti A'iih/ir. Fi.okida Kkdwivo. — Simihir to the 

 precediiif;, but siiiiiUcr, the bill iiiuoh niuru slendir; 9 with tlio uiulcr partH 

 less broudly streaked with blaok. W., 3-70; T., SoO; H., -ItO; depth of bill 

 at nostril, •;!"). 



liange, — Florida and tlic Bahamas, 



501« Stumella> maig^nai (^/'j".). Mkahov lark ; Field Lark. Ad. 

 in nummtr. — I'revailiu'jf color of the iipiicr parts bh.ek. the crown with a butfy 

 line throii^di the center, the back bonieretl and tipped w ith rufous and butfy ; 

 outer tail-feathers mostly white, midtUe ones with imperfect, comiected bars, 

 not reaching the outer edge of the feather; line from the bill over tlic eyo 

 yellow; sides of the throat and ear-coverts whitish; throat, lietween the 

 lower branch of the under mandible, breast, ai'd middle of the upper belly 

 bright yellow ; a black crescent on the breast; sides and lower belly whitish, 

 spotted or streaked witli black. Winter jilumdi/e. — Feathers all much more 

 widely margined, the prevailing color of the upper parts rufous-brown; black 

 breast crescent veiled with bully; yellow of under parts duller. L., 10-73; 

 W., 4-76; T., 3-1 ; B., 1-30. 



liemnrks. — T.iis bird is to be distinguis)\od from the western species by 

 its much darker upper parts, by the imperfect, contluent tail-bars, and more 

 especially by the absence of yellow on the siden of the throat. 



li'tiKje. — p]astern North America; breeds from the Gulf to New Brunswick 

 and Minnesota; winters from Massachusetts and Illinois southward. 



Washington, common P. R., less common in winter. Sing Sing, tolerably 

 common S. R., Feb. 20 to Nov. 27 ; a few winter. Cand^ridge, conunon S. R., 

 not common W. V. 



Nest^ of grasses, frequently arched, on the ground. Eij(j.i, four to six, 

 white, spotted or speckled with cinnamon or reddish brown, MT) x -80, 



In walking through grassy fields, meadows, or marshes, we some- 

 times flush rather large, brownish birds, which, alternately flapping 

 and sailing, scale away with a flight tluit suggests a Quail's. Their 

 white outer tail-feathers show conspicuously, atul if, instead of return- 

 ing to the ground, they alight on a fence or the outer branch of a tree, 

 as they utter a nasal ppnif, they will nervously flit their tails, display- 

 ing the same white feathers. 



When in an exposed position they are wary and difficult to ap- 

 proach, but when walking about on the ground they trust to the long 

 grasses for protection, and sometimes do not take wing until one is 

 within a few feet of them. 



In Cuba I noticed that a IMeadowlark. closely related to ours, was 

 very careful to conceal its brightly colored breast, with its distinctly 

 marked crescent, and, although even perching birds were not shy, they 



