1912] Swarth: Birds and Mammals from Vancouver Island 51 



May 9 and 10. They were evidently breeding, the ovaries of the 

 females containing well-developed eggs, but the five birds secured 

 apparently formed the entire colony as they were all that were 

 seen. The species was not encountered at any other point. 



The specimens secured have the extremely slender, sharp- 

 pointed bill characteristic of the race cawrinus, and appear to be 

 typical examples of that form. 



Sturnella neglecta Audubon 

 Western Meadowlark 



A fairly common species in the more settled portions of the 

 southeastern part of the island, and to a lesser degree as far west 

 as Alberni. Seen in the fields about Parksville on numerous 

 occasions in May and June. 



In the Beaver Creek Valley, extending some fifteen miles 

 north of Alberni, there are scattered tracts of cleared land, some 

 under cultivation, others formerly cultivated but now abandoned. 

 Meadowlarks occur in small numbers to the limit of these open 

 places. Most of these tracts were cleared but a few years ago, 

 and I was told that the birds appeared after the land was de- 

 forested. In all probability this is what has happened over the 

 entire range of the meadowlark on Vancouver Island. Before 

 the settlement of the region by white men, there could have been 

 but very small areas sufficiently free from forests to support the 

 species, whereas the clearing of the land for farming purposes 

 has undoubtedly enabled it to establish itself on the island, and 

 to extend its range yearly. 



At Errington, in September, a flock of thirty or forty fre- 

 quented some grain fields in the vicinity of our camp, where they 

 were seen daily. They were exceedingly wary and unapproach- 

 able and I had difficulty in obtaining specimens. 



In all, eleven meadowlarks were secured (nos. 15842-15852), 

 five in April and May, and six in September in fresh fall 

 plumage. They are quite indistinguishable from comparable 

 specimens from various parts of California, environmental differ- 

 ences apparently having been so far unable to produce any 

 appreciable modifications of color or markings. These birds, in 

 a region whose climate is supposedly productive of the dark 



