BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 317 
storms it becomes quite domesticated, and seeks food along 
roads and about dooryards and poultry houses ; but ordinarily 
the Lark is a shy bird, and keeps well out of gunshot in the 
open fields. This species has learned caution in the north 
because of continual persecution by gunners; but I have 
seen Meadowlarks as tame as Sparrows in the pine barrens 
of southern Florida. 
The Lark is a bird of the meadows, as its name implies; 
but it also frequents dry fields, and sometimes may be seen 
perched high in a tree on some 
hilltop, from which it sings its 
clear refrain. Old fields are 
favorite nesting places, probably in 
part because the dead and uncut 
grass offers concealment for the nest, 
and in part because in such fields the 
nest is undisturbed by the mower. 
This bird is an adept at concealing 
its nest, which sometimes has.a cov- 
ered approach. It resorts to strata- . x 
gem to puzzle the searcher. When Fig. 141.—Meadowlark, 
the female comes from or goes to centre et ae 
the nest she often runs through the grass for some distance, 
and seldom flies to it directly. Mrs. Irene G. Wheelock, 
in recording her attempts to find a nest, states that the male 
carried butterflies and dragon flies time after time to a point 
one hundred yards from the nest, in an apparent attempt to 
befool the searcher. 
Its flight is an alternation of fluttering and slow sailing, 
and it usually shows its white tail feathers often, especially 
on rising and alighting. When on the ground it does not 
hop like the Robin, but walks more like the Crow, occasion- 
ally opening and closing its tail, showing the white feathers 
conspicuously. . 
Its common alarm note is a rather sharp chatter, not loud, 
but shrill, which often follows or precedes a long, pierc- 
ing call. The ordinary song is a rather plaintive but pleas- 
ing whistle of a few notes, the last usually held for several 
seconds. This song is uttered either from the ground, from 
