C. N. Allen on Songs of the Western Meadow Lark . 1 49 
at a considerable distance. I have heard them when I was six 
or seven hundred feet away from the singer, quite as distinctly 
as I could hear a loud call of the ordinary human voice. 
I know of no musical instrument whose quality of tone — timbre 
— is like that of Sturnella neglecta. I have thought that a 
combination of the tones of the Boehm flute and a good, glass 
dulcimer might represent it pretty, accurately. It has qualities 
heard in the notes of the Bobolink, and of the Baltimore Oriole. 
Many of the forte songs have a general similitude, but are 
sufficiently diverse to constitute distinct melodies ; while others 
are decidedly unique and individual. Nos. 7 and 13, though in 
different keys, are very nearly alike. Many of them are melodies 
whose notes follow the simplest laws of musical progression, 
while others either introduce into the body of the song two or 
three notes which seem odd and out of place, or end in a note 
which the foregoing notes do not naturally lead us to expect. 
The note 4i E,” in No. 23, is a case of the former kind, and “C,” 
in No. 16, of the latter. I have noticed that very many songs 
begin with either two or three notes of equal length, but songs 
with other beginnings are common. 
It was my good fortune in March, 1879, to watch and listen to 
a Western Lark about thirty feet distant, while he sang four dis- 
tinct melodies without leaving his perch, changing from one do 
another without apparently observing any particular order. As 
regards variety in his songs, I do not know, further than this 
instance, what powers the bird has. I have often heard one bird 
sing two, and occasionally three melodies entirely dissimilar, save 
in quality of tone. 
The time in which the forte songs are sung is quite regular. 
I have heard no passages which could be marked accelerando or 
ritardando. I have tried so to place the bars in these melodies 
as to indicate the correct rhythm, and think I have succeeded in 
doing so, since I have detected no error after hearing each song 
scores of times under favorable circumstances. No. 3, however, 
I have heard sung with another accent. (See No. 27.) 
The quality of the bird’s tones is so unique that I have had 
difficulty in determining actual pitch, and I am inclined to think 
that some of the songs are sung an octave higher than they are 
written. Still, many of the lower tones have a depth of sound 
which excites my wonder, knowing how small is the organ which 
