312 



MEADOW LARK. 



his bill, in his manners, plumage, mode and place of building 

 his nest, Nature has clearly pointed out his proper family. 



This species has a very extensive range, having myself 

 found them in Upper Canada, and in each of the States, from 

 New Hampshire to New Orleans. Mr Bartram also informs 

 me, that they are equally abundant in East Florida. Their 

 favourite places of retreat are pasture fields and meadows, 

 particularly the latter, which have conferred on them their 

 specific name, and no doubt supplies them abundantly with 

 the particular seeds and insects on which they feed. They 

 are rarely or never seen in the depth of the woods, unless 

 where, instead of underwood, the ground is covered with rich 

 grass, as in the Chactaw and Chickasaw countries, where I 

 met with them in considerable numbers in the months of May 

 and June. The extensive and luxuriant prairies between 

 Vincennes and St Louis also abound with them. 



It is probable that, in the more rigorous regions of the 

 north, they may be birds of passage, as they are partially so 

 here ; though I have seen them among the meadows of New 

 Jersey, and those that border the rivers Delaware and Schuyl- 

 kill, in all seasons, even when the ground was deeply covered 

 with snow. There is scarcely a market-day in Philadelphia, 

 from September to March, but they may be found exposed to 

 sale. They are generally considered, for size and delicacy, 

 little inferior to the quail, or what is here usually called the 

 partridge, and valued accordingly. I once met with a few of 

 these birds in the month of February, during a deep snow, 

 among the heights of the Alleghany, between Shippensburgh 

 and Somerset, gleauing on the road, in company with the 

 small snow birds. In the State of South Carolina and Georgia, 

 at the same season of the year, they swarm among the rice 

 plantations, running about the yards and outhouses, accom- 

 panied by the killdeers, with little appearance of fear, as if 

 quite domesticated. 



These birds, after the building season is over, collect in 

 flocks ; but seldom fly in a close, compact body ; their flight 



