AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 
85 
MEADOW LARK. 
A LAUD A MAGNA. 
[Plate VIII. — Winter Plumage.] 
Linn. Syst. 2S9. — Crescent Stare, Arct. Zool. 330. No. 
192. — Latham, m. 6. Var. A. — Le Fer-a-cheval, ou 
Merle a Collier d’Amerique, Buff. iii. p. 371. — 
Catesb. Car. i. pi. 33. — Bartram, p. 290. — Alauda 
magna, Linn. Syst. i. p. 167. Ed. 10. — Gmel. Syst. 
i. p. 801. — Merula Americana torquata, Briss. Av. 
ii. p. 242. No. 15. — (Summer dress.) Sturnus ludo- 
vicianus, Linn. Syst. i. p. 290. — Gmel. Syst. i. p. 
802. — Brisson, ii. p. 449. 4. t. 42. f. 1. — Lath. Ind. 
Orn. i. 323. — Etourneau de la Louisiane. — Buff. iii. 
p. 192. — PI. Enl. 256. — J. Doughty’s Collection. 
Though this well-known species cannot boast of the 
powers of song which distinguish that “harbinger of day,” 
the Sky Lark of Europe, yet in richness of plumage, as 
well as in sweetness of voice (as far as his few notes ex- 
tend), he stands eminently its superior. He differs from 
the greater part of his tribe in wanting the long straight 
hind claw, which is probably the reason why he has been 
classed, by some late naturalists, with the Starlings. But 
in the particular form of 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 in- 
forms 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 abun- 
dantly 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 Choctaw and Chickasaw 
countries, where I met with them in considerable numbers 
in the months of May and June. The extensive and luxu- 
riant 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 
Schuylkill, 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 
Y 
may be found in market. They are generally considered, 
for size and delicacy, little inferior to the quail, or what 
is here usually called the partridge, and valued accord- 
ingly. 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, 
gleaning on the road, in company with the small snow- 
birds. In the States of South Carolina and Georgia, at the 
same season of the year, they swarm among the rice plan- 
tations, running about the yards and out-houses, accompa- 
nied by the Kildeers, 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 
is something in the manner of the grouse and partridge, 
laborious and steady; sailing, and renewing the rapid action 
of the wings alternately. When they alight on trees or 
bushes, it is generally on the tops of the highest branches, 
whence they send forth a long, clear, and somewhat melan- 
choly note, that, in sweetness and tenderness of expression, 
is not surpassed by any of our numerous warblers. This 
is sometimes followed by a kind of low, rapid chattering, the 
particular call of the female; and again the clear and plaintive 
strain is repeated as before. They afford tolerable good 
amusement to the sportsman, being most easily shot while 
on wing; as they frequently squat among the long grass, 
and spring within gunshot. The nest of this species is built 
generally in, or below, a thick tuft or tussock of grass; it 
is composed of dry grass, and fine bent laid at bottom, and 
wound all around, leaving an arched entrance level with 
the ground ; the inside is lined with fine stalks of the same 
materials, disposed with great regularity. The eggs are 
four, sometimes five, white, marked with specks, and seve- 
ral large blotches of reddish brown, chiefly at the thick 
end. Their food consists of caterpillars, grub worms, 
beetles, and grass seeds; with a considerable proportion of 
gravel. Their general name is the Meadow Lark; among 
the Virginians they are usually called the Old Field Lark. 
The length of this bird is ten inches and a half, extent 
sixteen and a half; throat, breast, belly, and line from the 
eye to the nostrils, rich yellow; inside lining and edge of 
the wing the same; an oblong crescent, of deep velvetty 
black, ornaments the lower part of the throat; lesser wing- 
coverts black, broadly bordered with pale ash; rest of the 
wing feathers light brown, handsomely serrated with black; 
a line of yellowish white divides the crown, bounded on 
each side by a stripe of black intermixed with bay, and 
another line of yellowish white passes over each eye back- 
wards; cheeks bluish white, back and rest of the upper 
parts beautifully variegated with black, bright bay, and 
pale ochre: tail wedged, the feathers neatly pointed, the 
