As its name implies, this bird has a predilection for meadows, and also for old and 

 fallow fields and prairies. It takes up its abode also in clover, corn, and grain-fields, in 

 grassy orchards and open woodland borders. In Texas and Louisiana it is abundantly 

 found in the cotton and sugar plantations, and in Florida in the orange groves. 



The Meadowlark is a true harbinger of spring, arriving in eastern Wisconsin often 

 by the latter part of March or early in April. Indeed I have seen single individuals as 

 early as March 20 in Sheboygan County. It announces its presence at once by its loud 

 and exhilerating call-note, which sounds like he-ah-be-bere, or, according to Nuttall, like 

 et-see-dee-ab. When arriving they are usually assembled in flocks of ten to twenty or 

 more, which frequently alight on an isolated tree, where all are singing their sweetest 

 notes. This is an exquisite spring concert, full of hilarity and anticipation, but it is 

 heard only when the weather is really mild and spring-like. If we observe closely we 

 find that they are not only singing, but that almost every one preens its feathers and 

 brings its plumage in order. All this reminds us of the Redwings and Yellowheads, 

 and it really denotes their close connection with these and other Blackbirds. All 

 their motions, with the exception of the flight, their walking on the ground, their 

 positions while standing or perching, show that the Meadowlark is a true American 

 Starling. With the true Larks it has nothing in common except its rather inap- 

 propriate name. 



Soon after their arrival the flocks separate into pairs and each pair takes possession 

 of its old haunts. In localities where these birds are numerous, they live close together. 

 In Wisconsin I have counted six breeding pairs in a meadow, scarcely five acres in 

 extent. Its breeding haunts in the Northern States are invariably meadows, clover, 

 corn, and grain-fields and sometimes the grassy orchard, often in close proximity to 

 farm-houses. I found them most abundant in cultivated regions, but while riding 

 through the almost endless flower-adorned prairies of Texas, I observed them in large 

 numbers also. This was in the salubrious days of April, when their hilarious song 

 sounded from far and near. At this time the first brood followed their parents through 

 the grass and the female was preparing for a second one. 



The winter home of the Meadowlark extends from Arkansas, southern Illinois, etc. 

 southward, but they are most numerous in the Gulf States. At Freistatt, in souths 

 western Missouri, they were always met with in winter ; there they found refuge against 

 the inclemencies of the weather in the corn-shocks or in dense tufts of perennial plants 

 and prairie grasses. The majority, however, moved farther south. In Wisconsin these 

 lively and home-like birds are scarcely seen after October 1, and by October 10 all have 

 left northern Illinois- I have met with the Meadbwlarks in large numbers in the sugar 

 cane, corn, and cotton plantations of south-eastern Texas and southern Louisiana 

 from early November to the last days of February. 



They migrate always in loose flocks, mostly during day-time. They do not move 

 rapidly, but tarry here in a meadow or prairie, or there in a field or pasture, searching 

 for food, or resting and singing, for the Meadowlarks are scarcely ever out of song, and 

 I have heard their merry call-note uttered with equal fervency in the almost lifeless 

 prairies of Texas and Louisiana during winter as in their more beautiful and varied 

 summer haunts at the North. Their flight much resembles that of the Quail. Although 



