OF THE UNITED STATES 



213 



parts a good deal as we find it to be in the adult, but the lower 

 parts are of a dull, brownish yellow, Avhile the pectoral crescent 

 is simply indicated by brown dashes upon the central part of 

 each feather, the margins having the color of the breast below. 

 Tufts of down occur in several places upon the head (behind the 

 eyes) and in the wings; but what constitutes the most striking 

 feature in one of these speciments is the great length of the legs 

 and the very big feet. Young Meadow-larks leave the nest before 

 they are able to fly, but so cute are they about hiding close that 

 it is very rare to find one at this time; the coloration of the back 

 likewise being greatly in their favor. The pair I refer to above 

 were very clumsy and awkward, but nevertheless could squat 

 and hide with all the skill of a young kildeer. 



Since obtaining the above referred-to picture, my son has cap- 

 tured alive an adult male Meadow-lark, and I succeeded also in 

 making a photograph of this specimen, one of the most difficult 

 pieces of photography in which I was ever successful. The result 

 is shown in Figure 55. 



Sometimes the Cowbird lays its egg in the nest of this spe- 

 cies, and Bendire cites a case where a second nest was built over 

 the one containing the parasitic egg. Besides being shot by man, 

 destroyed by numerous kinds of vermin, as weasels and the like, 

 and by hawks; many Meadow-larks are never hatched out 

 in those places where mowing machines are in constant use. Thus 

 it is that in such regions the bird is becoming annually more rare, 

 and this is unfortunate, in so far as man is concerned, for Stur- 

 nella is the best bird friend that the farmer has, and kills thou- 

 sands of noxious insects every season. 



Some of the habits of the other species and sub-species of the 

 birds of this genius are extremely interesting, but the limita- 

 tions of space forbid my touching upon these in the present chap- 

 ter. The Meadow-lark is not found in the Old World, and, in fact, 

 no bird that may be said to be very closely akin to it. 



As has been said above, our Partridges belong to the group 

 including the typical game-birds. 



When I speak of the American partridges, I mean, in the pres- 

 ent instance, the representatives of the sub-family Perdicinw that 

 legitimately belong to the avifauna of the United States. It will 

 naturally include, however, all the partridges that occur north of 

 the United States and Mexican boundary, on the North Ameri- 

 can continent; and these, as recognized in the second and last 



