28 PROCEEDENTGS OF THE 



on a lower pitch and with a less excited tempo. Another, re- 

 membering, perhaps, that he is a thrush, will sing still more 

 deliberately and with a thrush-like quality of tone that is a 

 joy to hear. On the other hand there are some whose voices are 

 thick and throaty and lack the clear bell-like tone that is usually 

 characteristic of Robin music. On account of these differences it 

 may or it may not be desirable from the musical point of view 

 to have a Robin for a permanent neighbor. His singing may 

 be a delight, or it may be very wearisome to the nerves. 



Yet greater variety is noticeable in the songs of Meadowlarks. 

 Like the Chickadee, Song Sparrow, Wood Thrush, and many 

 other birds, each Meadowlark has a more or less extensive 

 repertory of songs ; while the individual differences are so 

 great that it is rather rare that one hears a duplication of phrases 

 by separate birds, I have such a wealth of Meadowlark songs 

 among my records that it is difficult to choose which to present 

 here. However, I shall select a few that best exhibit the great 

 diversity that exists among them. One song (Rec. 11) I heard 

 on the 4th of April, 1905. Another, heard on the 3rd of the fol- 

 lowing March, (Rec. 12) makes an appropriate musical response 

 — or would do so were the two in the same key. It furnishes a 

 pretty bit of ascending melody in waltz time. The third, (Rec. 

 13) heard at 5 p.m. on the 13th of the preceding June, offers a 

 descending waltz theme. The fourth, (Rec. 14) sung on the 

 twelfth of April, 1906, was one of four or five different themes 

 uttered by one bird within a few minutes. These four were all 

 heard near North Takoma, a Maryland suburb of Washington, 

 D. C, 



On May 1, 1906, two birds I heard near AVashington, Pa., 

 gave me two very diverse songs (Recs. 15 and 16). The sec- 

 ond of these songs is quite aberrant in style from ordinary Mea- 

 dowlark music. At North Takoma again, on the 7th of June, 

 1906, I heard the phrase shown in Record 17 sung in beautifully 

 clear, liquid, and penetrating tones. A few days later, at the 

 same spot — a large field that was a most popular Meadowlark 

 resort — I heard the attractive phrases shown in Record 18 

 sung antiphonally by two birds. The motive of this duet might 

 have been taken almost bodily from Verdi's ' La Donna e Mobile ' 



