A BIRD MEDLEY 91 



rasping and harsh, in point of melody, when com- 

 pared with the bobolink's. When caged and near 

 at hand, the lark's song is positively disagreeable; 

 it is so loud and full of sharp, aspirated sounds. 

 But high in air above the broad downs, poured out 

 without interruption for many minutes together, it 

 is very agreeable. 



The bird among us that is usually called a lark, 

 namely, the meadowlark, but which our later clas- 

 sifiers say is no lark at all, has nearly the same 

 quality of voice as the English skylark, — loud, 

 piercing, z-z-ing; and during the mating season it 

 frequently indulges while on the wing in a brief 

 song that is quite lark-like. It is also a bird of the 

 stubble, and one of the last to retreat on the ap- 

 proach of winter. 



The habits of many of our birds are slowly un- 

 dergoing a change. Their migrations are less marked. 

 With the settlement and cultivation of the country, 

 the means of subsistence of nearly every species are 

 vastly increased. Insects are more numerous, and 

 seeds of weeds and grasses more abundant. They 

 become more and more domestic, like the English 

 birds. The swallows have nearly all left their ori- 

 ginal abodes — hollow trees, and cliffs, and rocks 

 — for human habitations and their environments. 

 Where did the barn swallow nest before the country 

 was settled ? The chimney swallow nested in hol- 

 low trees, and, perhaps, occasionally resorts thither 

 yet. But the chimney, notwithstanding the smoke, 

 seems to suit his taste best. In the spring, before 



