THE COLLECTORS' MONTHLY. 



39 



The Western meadow Lark. 



One of Kansas most loved birds is the 

 Yellow-brested Meadow Lark, subject of 

 my sketch. He is loved by all. Youth 

 and age alike, and though the school- 

 boy often throws a rock at him; it is 

 done more in play then from emnity. It 

 is needless to give time when he arrives 

 for he stays with us in the winter months, 

 and on sunshiny winter mornings, here 

 in Southern Kansas, you can see him 

 around the barnyard or granary or in 

 fact any place likely to supply him with 

 food. His good spirits and happy ways 

 brings him before the notice of all, for he 

 will perch himself on some neighboring 

 fence, post and sound those short yet 

 musical notes of song for which he is 

 noted. 



Swift of wing, though very tame and 

 hardly capable of fright at approaching 

 man, he is without a peer among South- 

 ern Kansas feathered fi iends. I confess 

 his nesting and the date thereof are con- 

 fusing subjects of narration. I have been 

 compelled to almost believe he nests from 

 the last of April until September 1st, by 

 appearances, but the sets I have taken 

 would not bear me out in this statement, 

 for they are by reference to my note-book 

 confined to June and July. In searches 

 through meadows for what I might find 

 I ha v e flushed no less than thirty birds 

 which I was confident had nests, spring- 

 ing up not over eight or ten paces from 

 me. Though marking the supposed 

 place as I thought, I would be totally 

 unable to find them, though I have hunt- 

 ed for something over one hundred and 

 fifty nests the past year, I have been un- 

 able to secure but about seventeen sets. 

 Their methods of nesting are far from 

 what one would expect from this friendly, 

 naught-fearing bird, in one thing— nest- 

 ing— they are sly. 



They select a meadow where a portion 

 of the prairie grass of the previous year's 

 growth has not been burnt off, and, of 

 course, tufts of this old grass, stuck Dp 

 here and there, surrounded by the recent 

 growth of green. They pick out, as a 

 suitable nesting place, one of these tufts 

 of old grass, and burrowing back di- 

 rectly under thetufts, then hollowing out 

 to a depth of five or six inches an im- 

 promptu nest, they fill this cavity up to 

 a certain depth with blades of old prairie 

 grass, and have a ne«* suitable for their 

 wants. 1 have never observed, nor do I 

 think anything but the grass enters into 

 the composition of the nest. At theclose 

 of the past season 1 invented (?) a scheme 

 to secure their eggs and successfully lo- 

 cate their nests. For the brief season 

 which remained for trial, it worked very 

 fair, though nothing but partly incubated 

 sets were found. My scheme was to cut a 

 bunch of straight switches, say one-half 

 inch in diameter A and about thrt« feet 

 long. Have one eud sharpened, and on 

 the other eud a small piece of red flannel. 

 Now wait till dusk of day and traverse 

 some meadow. At this time, when dark- 

 ness is falling, the Lark will not rise un- 

 til you nearly step on him. One flushes ! 

 — at your feet the place! Stick down a 

 stick and pass on. Go around the next 

 morning and gather them up. 



This may seem arduous to my brother 

 collectors, travelling at random over a 

 meadow in this way, but when I tell you 

 that in this section of the State you are 

 quite likely to leave twenty or thirty 

 flags on a very few acres, you will see 

 how numerous they are, and how well a 

 person might succeed with this ruse. 



I am going to try this plan again this 

 season, and if it is productive of success- 

 I will tell you later. 



Roy F. Greene, 

 Arkansas City, Kansas. 



