10 
The Meadowlark 
Increase in 
Numbers 
Like all singing* birds, so far as my knowledge extends, the musical 
performances of this inhabitant of the open country begin with the day. 
At intervals until night the whistling melody continues. There is notice- 
able variation in the quality of the singing of different birds. Not all 
men can sing with the same degree of melody, nor can all Meadowlarks. 
These birds are found from the southern prairie Provinces of Canada 
southward throughout the United States and into Mexico. They are 
more numerous, of course, in some regions than in others, but wherever 
found they are much in evidence, and are always known by the dwellers 
of the country round about. Few people can pass this yellow-breasted, 
black-bibbed, loud-singing musician without noticing its presence. 
The Meadowlark is one of the species of birds that has increased in 
numbers since the coming of the white man to America. Vast areas of 
our country, particularly in the Eastern and Southern 
States, were originally covered with heavy forests. 
The Meadowlark, being a bird of open lands, was 
therefore restricted to the comparatively few prairies that then existed. 
These conditions began to change as soon as the settlers commenced fell- 
ing the forest trees, and as fields and meadows appeared Meadowlarks 
began to increase. 
If you want to find a Meadowlark’s nest you must look for it on the 
ground. It is usually made entirely of dead grasses, although at times i 
a thin lining of horsehair is added. Most of the nests I have examined ! 
possessed a dome-shaped roof of grass, thus allowing inspection from 
one side only. This snug little house is hid under the edge of a clump i 
of grass or weeds. Sometimes one finds it in a field of corn, or concealed 
by a stump around which grass is growing, or elsewhere protected by an i 
overhanging grassy clod left unbroken at the spring plowing. 
It is something of an adventure to find one of these stationary cradles 
built for the comfort of the wee Larks to come. Usually it is discovered 
quite by accident as one pursues his way across a meadow or field. So 
closely do the colors of the feathers on the head and back of the bird 
resemble its surroundings that if it could restrain its fear one might pass 
within a foot of the spot with small chance of discovering the secret. 
The bird seems to be conscious of this fact, and often will permit one al- 
most to step on it before fluttering away. One day, after a forenoon spent 
in a marsh with two other bird-lovers, we came out 
on the dry meadowland for lunch. After spending half 
an hour lunching and lounging on the ground we rose 
to go, when suddenly up flew a Meadowlark from her nest with its five 
speckled eggs not over twelve feet from where our lunch had been spread. 
There she had been sitting all that time, and probably would not have 
moved when she did had I not stepped within a foot of her hiding-place. 
It is a very discouraging task to attempt to find a Meadowlark’s 
nest by watching the birds go to it, for the reason that when one of them 
[wishes to approach the spot, it alights on the ground many yards away 
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