638 
A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS 
O JAY 
0 Jay! 
Blue Jay ! 
What are you trying to say? 
1 remember, in the spring 
You pretended you could sing; 
But your voice is now still queerer, 
And as yet you’ve come no nearer 
To a song. 
In fact, to sum the matter, 
I never heard a flatter 
Failure than your doleful clatter. 
Don’t you think it’s wrong? 
It was sweet to hear your note, 
I’ll not deny, 
When April set pale clouds afloat 
O’er the blue tides of sky. 
And ’mid the wind’s triumphant drums 
You in your white and azure coat, 
A herald proud, came forth to cry 
“ The royal summer comes ! ” 
— George Parsons Lathrop 
Family Alandidae: Larks 
Horned Lark : Octocoris alpestris. W. V. 
Shore Lark 
Length: 7-7.50 inches. 
Male: Upper parts brown with pinkish cast, most marked on neck 
and rump. Black crescent on breast ; black bar in front of head, 
extending to side of head, forming two tufts or horns ; frontlet, 
throat, and neck pale yellowish ; below whitish, streaked with 
black ; bill dark ; feet black. 
Female: Paler and somewhat smaller. 
Song: Only a call note here, but a charming song in the breeding- 
haunts. 
Season: Winter resident along shore; October to April. 
These Larks, if the snow is not too deep, settle in the marsh- 
meadows, where they pick up a living from various seeds ; 
or, if the snow has covered the fields, they take refuge in 
sheltered spots by hayricks and even near houses. I have 
seen them quite close to the village, picking up oats under 
a shed where straw had been thrashed recently. According 
to Audubon, they have, in the breeding-range, the habit of 
singing as they soar in the air, after the manner of the 
European Skylark. 
