MEADOW LARK. 81 
not inconsiderable, bears some resemblance to the slender sing- 
ing and affected pronunciation of é¢ sé dé ah, and psédee etsilio, 
or ¢at sediio in a slow, wiry, shrill tone, and sometimes differ- 
ently varied and shortened. The same simple ditty is repeated 
in the spring, when they associate in pairs; the female also, as 
she rises or descends, at this time frequently gives a reiterated 
guttural chirp, or hurried twitter, like that of the female Red- 
winged Blackbird. I have likewise at times heard them utter 
notes much more musical and vigorous, not very unlike the fine 
tones of the Sky Lark; but I.can by no means compare our 
lisping songster with that blithe “harbinger of day.’’ There 
is a monotonous affectation in the song of our Lark which 
appears indeed somewhat allied to the jingling, though not 
unpleasant, tune of the Starling. The Stare, moreover, had the 
faculty of imitating human: speech (which ours has not, as far 
as we yet know), and could indifferently speak even French, 
English, German, Latin, and Greek, or any other language 
within his hearing, and repeat short phrases ; so that “‘ Z can’¢ 
get out, [ can’t get out, says the Starling,” which accidentally 
afforded Sterne such a beautiful and pathetic subject for his 
graphic pen, was probably no fiction. 
At the time of pairing, our Lark exhibits a little of the 
jealous disposition of his tribe ; and having settled the dispute 
which decides his future condition, he retires from his fra- 
ternity, and, assisted by his mate, selects a thick tuft for the 
reception of his nest, which is pretty compact, made of dry, 
wiry grass, and lined with finer blades of the same. It is 
usually formed with a covered entrance in the surrounding 
withered grass, through which a hidden and almost winding 
path is made, and generally so well concealed that the nest is 
only to be found when the bird is flushed. 
The eggs are four or five, white, with a very faint tint of 
blue, almost round, and rather large, for the size of the bird, 
marked with numerous small reddish-brown spots, more nu- 
merous at the greater end, blended with other lighter and 
darker points and small spots of the same. They probably 
often raise two broods in the season. About the time of 
VOL. I. — 6 
