MEADOW LARK. 203 
gated with ragged streaks of black, and small transverse tcuches of 
brown; legs, feathered nearly to the claws, with a kind of hairy down, 
of a pale brown color; vent and under tail-coverts white, the latter 
slightly marked with brown; ‘iris of the eye, a brilliant golden yellow; 
bill and claws, bluish horn color. . ‘ : 
This was a female. The male is considerably less in size; the 
general colors darker; and the white on the wing-coverts not so 
observable. "3 - 
Hollow trees, either in the woods or orchard, or close evergreens in 
retired situations, are the usual roosting-places of this and most of our 
other species. These retreats, however, are frequently discovered by 
the Nuthatch, Titmouse, or Blue Jay, who instantly raise the alarm; a 
promiscuous group of feathered neighbors soon collect round the spot, 
like crowds in the streets of a large city, when a thief or murderer is 
detected ; and, by their insults and vociferation, oblige the recluse to 
seek for another lodging elsewhere. This may account for the cir- 
cumstance of sometimes finding them abroad during the day, on fences 
and other exposed situations. 
MEADOW LARK. — ALAUDA MAGNA. — Fie. 33. 
Linn, Syst. 289 — Crescent Stare, Arct. Zool. 330, No. 192, Lath. iii. 6, var. A.— 
Le fer-a-cheval, ou Merle a Collier d’Amerique, Buff. iii. p. 371. — Catesb. Car. 
i. pl. 33. — Bartram, p. 290. — Peale’s Museum, No. 5212. 
STURNELLA LUDOVICIANA. — Swainson * 
Sturnus Ludovicianus, (sub-gerius Stumella,) Bonap. Synop. p. 49, —Stumel 
oe Vieill. Gal. des. Ois. pl. 80.— Sturnella Ludoviciana, North. Zool. i. 
p. 282. . v 
THovex this well-known species cannot boast of the powers of 
song which distinguish that “harbinger of day,” the Sky Lark of 
Europe, yet in richness of plumage, as well as in sweetness of voice, 
~ In changing the specific name of this species, C. L, Bonaparte thinks that Wil- 
son must have been misled by some ‘European author, as he was acquainted with 
the works wherein it was previously described. It ought to remain under the 
appellation bestowed on it by Linnzus, Brisson, &e. ith regard to the generic 
term, this curious form has been chosen by Vieillot, as thé type of his genus Star- 
nella, containing yet only two species, — that of Wilson, and another from the 
southern continent. The form is peculiar to the New World, and seems, to have 
been a subject of uncertainty to most ornithologists, as we find it placed in the 
genera T'urdus, ‘Sturnus, Alauda, and Cassicus, to all of which it is somewhat 
allied, but, to none can it rank as a congener. In the bill, head, and wings, with 
some modification, we have the forms of the two first and last; in the colors of the 
plumage, the elongation of the scapularies and tail-coverts, in the legs, feet, and 
hinder claw, that of the Alaude. ‘The tarsi and feet are decidedly ambulatorial, 
as is confirmed by the habits of the species, though the tail indicates that of a 
seansorial bird; but as far as we yet know, it is the only indication of this power. 
In the structure of the nest, we have the weaving of the Icteri, the situation of many 
of the’ Warblers, and the form of the true Wrens. —FEp. 
