FAM. XIV. BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 



147 



Meadowlark 



5. Meadowlark (601. Sturnella mdgna). — A somewhat large, 

 common, ground-living, speckled-brown-backed, yellow-bellied 

 bird, with a crescent-shaped black spot on the lireast, and 

 white under tail feathers. This 

 is an abundant bird of the fields, 

 meadows, and marshes. Its notes 

 vary much for locality and sea- 

 son, as well as individually, and 

 many attempts have been made 

 to write out, in syllables and 

 musical notes, its song. One 

 of the attempts is, " Spring-o'- 

 tJie-year.'' (Field-lark.) 



Length, 8-11 ; wing, 4-5; tail, 2|- 

 31- ; tarsus, 1| ; culmen, 1-li. United 

 States from the Plains eastward ; breed- 

 ing from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, 

 and wintering coastwise and along 

 rivers from New Jersey southward. 

 The Mexican Meadowlark (501". S. m. mexicana) of southern Texas to 

 Central America is a smaller bird, with iiroportionally larger feet ; wing, 



,3J_4J ; culmen, 1-1 1- ; tar- 

 sus, 1|. The Western 

 Meadowlark (501''. S. m. 

 negUcta) of the western 

 United States from Wis- 

 consin to Texas, and west 

 to the Pacific, is a duller 

 and paler bird, with a 

 generally grayish appear- 

 ance ; the yellow of the 

 throat spreads over the 

 cheeks. The size aver- 

 ages larger. Wing, 4J-5|. 



6. Orchard Oriole 



(506. Icterus spiirius). 

 — A bright-chestnut- 

 bodied bird, with 

 Oroliard Oriole ^jg^^^ j^ead, upper 



back, wings, and tail. The black of the head extends to the 



