THE WESTERN MEADOWLARK. 463 



two birds is the entire dissimilarity of their song and call notes. Our western 

 bird is universally and appropriately conceded to be by far the better songster. 

 Dr. J. A. Allen expresses these differences very pertinently as follows: 



"It [its song] differs from that of the Meadowlark in the Eastern States in 

 the notes being louder and wilder, and at the same time more liquid, mellower, 

 and far sweeter. They have a pensiveness and a general character remarkably 

 in harmony with the half-dreary wildness of the primitive prairie, as though the 

 bird had received from its surroundmgs their peculiar impress, while if less 

 loud their songs would hardly reach their mates above the strong winds that 

 almost constantly sweep over the prairies in the hot months. It differs, too, in 

 the less frequency of the harsh, complaining chatter so conspicuous in the eastern 

 birds, so much so that at first I suspected this to be wholly wanting."^ 



It is almost impossible to do justice on paper to some of the exquisite 

 strains uttered by this bird, and being no musician I shall not attempt it. I can 

 only compare it in some respects to the matchless, clear, tinkling utterances of 

 the finest of our western songsters, Townsend's Solitaire, and I refer the reader 

 for further information to Mr. Charles N. Allen's paper on this subject in the 

 Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club (Vol. 6, 1881, pp. 145-150). 



Mr. R. H. Lawrence sends me an imitation of one of its songs as noted by 

 him on October 25, 1892, near Ridgefield, Clarke County, Washington, which he 

 renders as follows: "Hu-er-hu, whick-^e, hu-er-hu-w^er," given with spirit and 

 ringing clearness. One of its commoner songs is said by Mr. Charles A. Keeler 

 to resemble the syllables "twee-tweedle-tee-te-twe." 



The Western Meadowlark, like its eastern relative, is a hardy bird, and 

 many winter in some of the warmer valleys of Washington and Idaho, but in the 

 late fall the majority retire farther south to California, Arizona, and northern 

 Mexico, usually returning to their breeding grounds during March. 



In Colorado and Arizona it has been met with in summer at altitudes of 

 from 8,000 to 10,000 feet. 



Its general habits resemble those of the eastern Meadowlark, and, like this 

 bird, it prefers rather open country, meadow and prairie lands, and especially the 

 vicinity of streams, where a luxuriant growth of grass is usually to be found. 

 In the thinly settled regions in the West it is exceedingly tame and familiar, 

 and may frequently be seen perched on the roofs of houses and outbuild- 

 ings, pouring forth its clear, ringing, and melodious notes, Avhich can be heard 

 for considerable distances. One of its most common call notes sounds like 

 "tchaeck," or "aeck." 



Its food consists principally of small beetles, grasshoppers and their eggs, and 

 numerous othei- insects; even the large, repulsive-looking black crickets, which 

 are so numerous and destructive in some seasons in the West, are not rejected 

 by them, and only when such food can not be obtained does it feed on small 

 giains and different wild seeds. It is unquestionably one of the best friends 

 the farmer has, and fully deserves his good will and protection. 



'Memoirs Boston Society of Natural History, I, Pt. IV, 1868, pp. 496, 497. 



