MISSOURI SKYLARK, 



(^Anthus spragueii.) 



What thou art we knon' not; 



What is most Hke thee? 

 From rainbow clouds there flow not 



Drops so bright to see, 

 As from thy presence showers a rain of melody. 



■Shelley. 



When the umber skylark is struck mto 

 glory of plume and of song by the rising 

 sun, we can conceive that the song is in- 

 deed *'the nearest approach, in animal 

 nature, lo the ringing of the hydrogen 

 bells in the physics of light," and that 

 when "the music soars within the little 

 lark and the lark soars," he is almost an 

 involuntary agent, the song, like the sum- 

 mer, owing its creation, as George Mac- 

 Donald tells, to 



"The sun that rises early, 

 Shining, shining all day rarely; 

 Drawing up the larks to meet him, 

 Earth's bird-angels, wild to greet him." 



Although the skylark, more than any 

 other of the aerial tribes, ''holds the mid- 

 dle rank 'twixt heaven and earth, on the 

 last verge of mortal being stand," the fate 

 of the Missouri skylark is more unhappy 

 than that of a prophet, for, being so lit- 

 tle know in comparison with his deserts, 

 he is almost without honor in his own 

 country or any other. Yet it was so long 

 ago as May 19, 1843, that Audubon, near 

 the headwaters df !the Miissou'ri, cele- 

 brated in his journal the glad tidings of 

 his discovery: "Harris and Bell have 

 returned, and, to my delight and utter 

 astonishment, have brought two new 

 birds, one a lark, small- and beautiful." 

 And again, on June 22, he writes: ."The 

 little new lark, that I have named for 

 Sprague, has almost all the habits of the 

 skylark of Europe. Whilst looking anx- 

 iously for it on the ground, where we 

 supposed it to be singing, we discovered 

 it to be high over our heads, and that 

 sometimes it went too high for us to see 

 at all. When this species start from the 

 ground they fly in succession of undula- 

 tions, which renders aim at them quite 

 difficult. After this, and in the same man- 

 ner, they elevate themselves to some con- 

 siderable height, as if about to sing, and 



presently pitch toward the ground, where 

 they run prettily, and at times stand still 

 and quite erect for a few minutes." 



On June 24 he continues : "This after- 

 noon I thought would be a fair oppor- 

 tunity to examine the rrianners of 

 Sprague's lark on the wing. The male 

 rises, by constant undulations, to a great 

 height, say one hundred yards or more; 

 and, whilst singing its sweetest sounding 

 notes, beats its wings, poised in the air 

 like a hawk, without rising at this time, 

 after which, and after each burst of sing- 

 ing, it sails in divers directions, form- 

 ing three-quarters of a circle or therea- 

 bouts, then rises again, and again sings. 

 The intervals between the singing are 

 longer then those the song occupies (the 

 latter about fifteen to twenty minutes), 

 and at times the bird remains so long in 

 the air as to render it quite fatiguing 

 to follow it with the eye. Sprague 

 thought one he watched yesterday re- 

 mained in the air about an hour. Bell 

 and Harris watched one for more than 

 half an hour, and this afternoon I gazed 

 upon one, whilst Bell timed it, for thirty- 

 six minutes." 



In November, 1873, I^^- Coues discov- 

 ered this pipit in considerable numbers, 

 and continues Audubon's enthr.siastic de- 

 scription : The ordinary straightfor- 

 ward flight of the bird is performed with 

 a regular rising and falling like that of 

 the titlark; but its course, when startled 

 from the ground, is exceedingly rapid 

 and wayward. At such times, after the 

 first alarm, they are wont to hover around 

 in a desultory manner for a considerable 

 time and then pitch suddenly down to the 

 ground, often near where they rose. Un- 

 der these circumstances they have a lisp- 

 ing, querulous note. But these common 

 traits have nothing to do with the won- 

 derful soarinq- action and the inimitable, 



matchless song of the birds during the 



202 



