BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 
293 
faintly indicated. Male: length (skins) 7.90-9.08, wing 4.45-4.96, tail 
2.50-3.12, bill 1.19-1.40. Female: length (skins) 7.70-8.10, wing 3.95-4.32, 
tail 2.52-2.90, bill 1.20-1.32. 
Distribution. — From southeastern Texas west to southern New Mexico 
and Arizona ; south to northern Mexico. 
501b. Sturnella magna neglecta ( Aud .). Western MEADOW¬ 
LARK. 
Adult male in breeding plumage. — Crown with median huffy stripe ; lores 
yellow ; superciliary huffy ; rest of upper parts grayish brown, with huffy 
white streaks and black streaks and bars ; middle of back heavily marked 
with black, and tertials, rump, and tail heavily barred; outer tail feathers 
mainly white ; under parts bright yellow, yellow of throat spreading over 
cheeks; crescent on breast and spotting on sides black. Adult female in 
breeding plumage: similar, but paler, and yellow restricted. Adults in 
winter plumage: upper parts lighter, from unworn light tips and edgings 
of feathers; black and yellow of under parts veiled by light edgings. 
Male: length (skins) 8.31-10.14, wing 4.60-5.08, tail 2.69-3.25, bill 1.17— 
1.44. Female : length (skins) 7.74-9.00, wing 4.12-4.59, tail 2.39-2.84, bill 
1.09-1.28. 
Distribution. — Western United States from Wisconsin, Illinois, and 
Texas to the Pacific, and from British America south to Lower California 
and northern Mexico. Resident south of 39° and in Washington and Oregon. 
Nest. —Usually at the foot of a bunch of grass, made of grass, gen¬ 
erally loosely covered over. Eggs: 3 to 7, generally white, spotted varia¬ 
bly over the entire surface with different shades of brown and purple. 
Food. — Mainly grasshoppers and their eggs, beetles, the destructive 
large black cricket, and other insects. 
The voice of the western meadowlark is so different from that of 
the eastern bird that in going west you recognize it the instant the 
pure clarion notes strike your ear, whether at a wayside station amid 
the puffing of the engine, or from the moving train when, with a 
turn of the wing, the bird flies over the car carolling as it goes, 
regardless of all but the song in its heart. “ There’s the western 
meadowlark ! ” you cry out in eager delight, and as the train leaves 
him behind and you lean back on the dusty car cushions, you rest in 
a world of blue sky and celestial song. The lark’s notes have been 
written down in sharps and flats, but the pure, heavenly quality of 
the song can never be reproduced. 
GENUS ICTERUS. 
General Characters. — Bill about as long as head, very acute ; feet fitted 
for perching rather than walking; tarsus not longer than middle toe and 
claw ; side toes equal, or outer longest; tail rounded or graduated. 
KEY TO ADULT MALES. 
1. Plumage black and yellow or orange 
2. Head mainly yellow. 
3. Breast pale orange .... 
3'. Breast light lemon yellow . . 
2'. Head mainly black. 
sennetti, p. 295. 
nelsoni, p. 296. 
