Music of the Wild 



brightness of his crown is emphasized by alter- 

 nating dark stripes, and his breastplate becomes 

 Cloud radiant in contrast with a dark collar. His back 

 Musicians covering is a mixture of dark-bro^vn, gray, and 

 gra^'-brown. The wings are the same, touched with 

 white, and the middle feathers of the tail are sim- 

 ilar, the shorter outer ones tipjjed with white. His 

 habitat a252)ears to be heaven, and his home earth, 

 which certainly seems contradictory. But it is true. 

 He is a bird of as constant flight as the kingfisher, 

 and of such exalted height that he is often lost to 

 our vision above the clouds. The kingfisher sel- 

 dom rises above the treetops, the lark scarcely ever 

 falls belo^^'. He is the oracle of high places, and 

 sings from greater altitude than any other bird. 

 That very fact may give distinction to him. 



His notes, syllabicated as well as possible in 

 the words that of all others seem most appropriate, 

 "Sj^ring o' ye-ar!" is the Ijest-loved bird-song in 

 oiu" coimtry, and the more he slurs it and rings in 

 the half 2:)laintive tone that cliaracterizes it, the 

 more it is ap])reciated. There is a lark out in the 

 center of this country that greatly surpasses ours 

 in song, although it appears and acts very similar. 

 The difference in the character of the notes is de- 

 tected instantly by travelers. Tlie bird of the Ne- 

 braska alfalfa fields has the same shuTing modu- 

 lations, but his song is several measures longer. 

 He sings, "Come here! Spring o' ye-ar!" and 



18-2 



