MISSOURI MEADOW-LARK. 
223 
bird called the Old Field Lark, with a yellow breast and a black spot on the 
croup. *■*'*■* The beak, too, is somewhat larger and more curved, 
and the notes differ considerably. ” The expedition was, at the period 
mentioned, in the neighbourhood of the great Falls of the Missouri. 
We found the species quite abundant on our voyage up the Missouri, 
above Fort Croghan, and its curious notes were first noticed by Mr. J. G. 
Bell, without which in all probability it would have been mistaken for our 
common species ( Sturnella Ludoviciana ). When I first saw them, they 
were among a number of Yellow-headed Troupials, and their notes so much 
resembled the cries of these birds, that I took them for the notes of the 
Troupial, and paid no farther attention to them, until I found some of them 
by themselves, when I was struck with the difference actually existing 
between the two nearly allied species. 
In their flight, manners on the ground, and general habits, nothing dif- 
ferent from S. Ludoviciana could be observed ; but on comparing the 
Missouri Meadow Lark with specimens of S. Ludoviciana , procured near 
New York, the differences are quite sufficient to warrant me to describe the 
former as a new and hitherto undescribed species. The bill of the Missouri 
Meadow Lark is more curved, and considerably narrower, than in the com- 
mon species, indeed it is scarcely more than one half the breadth of the 
bill of the latter. The Missouri Lark is also considerably smaller ; but the 
greatest difference is in the form of the tail, which in this species is nearly 
square, and consequently has the feathers nearly equal, whilst in the common 
one, the tail is rounded, and the two lateral feathers are nearly three quarters 
of an inch shorter than the middle ones ; besides which, the central tail- 
feathers of the present birds are narrowly barred, and not scalloped on 
their margins as in Sturnella Ludoviciana. The nest is not covered over, 
and the eggs are considerably smaller, and differently marked. This species 
is very shy, but abundant on all the prairies ; its flesh resembles that of 
the common bird, and is indifferent eating. 
Missouri Meadow-Lark, Sturnella neglecta, Aud. 
10, 16. 
Upper Missouri. Abundant. 
Adult Male. 
The male measures 10 inches from the point of the bill to the end of the 
tail, to end of claws 11J ; alar extent 16 ; wing from flexure 4|- ; tail 3. 
Third quill longest. Bill along the ridge 1 and nearly f , along the edge 
If ; tarsus If ; middle toe 1, its claw § ; hind toe I, its claw h. 
The eggs, which are usually four or five in number, measure !-§■ inches in 
