AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



85 



MEADOW LARK. 



ALAUDJl MJIGN^. 



[Plate VIII.— Winter Plumage.] 



Linn. Syst. 289.— Crescent Stare, Arct. Zool. 330. No. 

 192. — Latham, in. 6. Var. A. — Le Fer-a-cheval, ou 

 Merle a Collier d'Amerique, Buff. hi. p. 371. — 

 Catesb. Car. i. pi. 33. — Bartkam, p. 290. — Mauda 

 ■magna, Linn. Syst. i. p. 167. Ed. 10. — Gmel. Syst. 



I. p. 801. — Merula Jlmericana torquata, Briss. Jiv. 



II. p. 242. No. 15. — (Summer dress.) Stwvius ludo- 

 vicianus, Linn. Syst. i. p. 290.— Gmel. Syst. i. p. 

 802. — Brisson, II. p. 449. 4. t. 42. / 1. — Lath. Ind. 

 Orn. I. 323. — Etourneau de la Louisiane. — Buff. hi. 

 p. 192. — PL Enl. 256. — J. Doughty's Collection. 



Though this well-known species cannot boast of the 

 powers of song which distinguish that "harbinger of day," 

 the Sky Lark of Europe, yet in richness of plumage, as 

 well as in sweetness of voice (as far as his few notes ex- 

 tend), he stands eminently its superior. He diflers from 

 the greater part of his tribe in wanting the long straight 

 hind claw, which is probably the reason why he has been 

 classed, by some late naturalists, with the Starlings. But 

 in the particular form of his bill, in his manners, plumage, 

 mode and place of building his nest, nature has clearly 

 pointed out his proper family. 



This species has a very extensive range: having myself 

 found them in Upper Canada, and in each of the States from 

 New Hampshire to New Orleans. Mr. Bartram also in- 

 forms me that they are equally abundant in East Florida. 

 Their favourite places of retreat are pasture fields and 

 meadows, particularly the latter, which have conferred on 

 them their specific name; and no doubt supplies them abun- 

 dantly with the particular seeds and insects on which they 

 feed. They are rarely or never seen in the depth of the 

 woods; unless where, instead of underwood, the ground is 

 covered with rich grass, as in the Choctaw and Chickasaw 

 countries, where I met with them in considerable numbers 

 in the months of May and June. The extensive and luxu- 

 riant prairies between Vincennes and St. Louis also abound 

 with them. 



It is probable that in the more rigorous regions of the 

 north they may be birds of passage, as they are partially so 

 here; though I have seen them among the meadows of New 

 Jersey, and those that border the rivers Delaware and 

 Schuylkill, in all seasons; even when the ground was 

 deeply covered with snow. There is scarcely a market 

 day in Philadelphia, from September to March, but they 



may be found in market. They are generally considered, 

 for size and delicacy, little inferior to the quail, or what 

 is here usually called the partridge, and valued accord- 

 ingly. I once met with a few of these birds in the month 

 of Februar}'', during a deep snow, among the heights of 

 the Alleghany, between Shippensburgh and Somerset, 

 gleaning on the road, in company with the small snow- 

 birds. In the States of South Carolina and Georgia, at the 

 same season of the year, they swarm among the rice plan- 

 tations, running about the yards and out-houses, accompa- 

 nied by the Killdeers, with little appearance of fear, as if 

 quite domesticated. 



These birds, after the building season is over, collect in 

 flocks; but seldom fly in a close compact body; their flight 

 is something in the manner of the grouse and partridge, 

 laborious and steady; sailing, and renewing the rapid action 

 of the wings alternately. When they alight on trees or 

 bushes, it is generally on the tops of the highest branches, 

 whence they send forth a long, clear, and somewhat melan- 

 choly note, that, in sweetness and tenderness of expression, 

 is not surpassed by any of our numerous warblers. This 

 is sometimes followed by a kind of low, rapid chattering, the 

 particular call of the female; and again the clear and plaintive 

 strain is repeated as before. They aSbrd tolerable good 

 amusement to the sportsman, being most easily shot while 

 on wing; as they frequently squat among the long grass, 

 and spring within gunshot. The nest of this species is built 

 generally in, or below, a thick tuft or tussock of grass; it 

 is composed of dry grass, and fine bent laid at bottom, and 

 wound all around, leaving an arched entrance level with 

 the ground ; the inside is lined with fine stalks of the same 

 materials, disposed with great regularity. The eggs are 

 four, sometimes five, white, marked with specks, and seve- 

 ral large blotches of reddish brown, chiefly at the thick 

 end. Their food consists of caterpillars, grub worms, 

 beetles, and grass seeds; with a considerable proportion of 

 gravel. Their general name is the Meadow Lark; among 

 the Virginians they are usually called the Old Field Lark. 



The le.ngth of this bird is ten inches and a half, extent 

 sixteen and a half; throat, breast, belly, and line from the 

 eye to the nostrils, rich yellow; inside lining and edge of 

 the wing the same; an oblong crescent, of deep velvetty 

 black, ornaments the lower part of the throat; lesser wing- 

 coverts black, broadly bordered with pale ash; rest of the 

 wing feathers light brown, handsomely serrated with black; 

 a line of yellowish white divides the crown, bounded on 

 each side by a stripe of black intermixed with bay, and 

 another line of yellowish white passes over each eye back- 

 wards; cheeks bluish white, back and rest of the upper 

 parts beautifully variegated with black, bright bay, and 

 pale ochre: tail wedged, the feathers neatly pointed, the 



