THE MEADOW LARK 



Back brown spotted with black ; brekst bright yellow with 

 a large black crescent ; throat and belly yellow ; a yellow stripe 

 over the eye; tail feathers pointed, the outer ones white; sides 

 gray dashed with black ; legs and feet, flesh-color. Length, ten 

 and one-half inches. 



The Meadowlark reaches New YOr-k State about April 

 first and it remains until November. The nest is made 

 on the ground, in the high grass, about the last of May. 

 The material used consists of coarse, dry grass for the frame- 

 work, which is lined with finer grasses. Sometimes the high, 

 dried grass of the previous year is bent over to form a pro- 

 tecting arch above the nest. Four or five white eggs, a little 

 larger than those of the Robin, specked with lilac or brown, are 

 placed in this cosy home. Occasionally two broods are raised 

 in a summer. The parents are very tender of their children 

 and continue to feed them for many jveeks after they are 

 able to fly. Eggs, 1.15 x .80 inches. 



The Meadowlark may be called a bird of the fields, for it 

 lives mainly upon the ground where it hujits for worms, beetles 

 and the larvae of various insects of which it destroys large 

 numbers. Because of its shyness, it is difficult to get close to it 

 unless it is hidden in the high grass, when one may approach 

 within a few feet of it. The clear, sweet warble of this bird, 

 which sounds like wee-tsee-tsee-ree-re, will often betray its 

 presence when it cannot be seen. Its peculiar flight, consisting 

 of a few strokes of the wings, followed by a short sailing move- 

 ment before it alights again, helps to distinguish it from other 

 birds. 



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