266 BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 
     
    
   
   
    
     would invariably turn their backs upon me as I drew near. Do our 
     
     l\le:nlo\\‘larks practice the same impolite habit? 
     
     The Mcinlowlark’s sonrr is a clear. )laintire whistle of unusual 
     
     b 
     
     sweetness. It is saneet to much variation, both individually and 
     
     Teowra )lllCflll '. The birds near my home at l‘hnrlewood N. J.. en— 
     
     D u C‘ 7 . g 
     
     a 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     erally sing' Em" E_',__¢_, ”I w fi—i—flp—g: But the 
     
     ~ '4 =t r We A, #e 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     songs of Florida birds are so ditferent,I hardly recognized them by 
     
     their notes. 
     
    

    
     In the fall, Meadowlarks at the north gather in flocks and resort to 
     
     large marshes. 
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
    
   
   
    
     501a,. S. m. neglecta. (And). Win N )THAIWWLARK; l’nAimE 
     
     LARK—PI‘UVfllllng color of the upper parts gray 1sh brown. crown with a cen- 
     
     tral butl')‘ stripe; back bluek. feathers widely margined with grayish brown; 
     
     rump and upper tail—eoverts with narrow black bars; outer tail—feathers 
     
     mostly white; middle ones brownish gray. barred with black. the bars gen- 
     
     erally not connected, and as a rule reaching the margins of the feathers; 
     
     line from the bill over the eye yellow; ear-em'crts grayish white; throat. 
     
     yellow. this color reaching up on the, sizlm' of the throat and touching: the ear- 
     
     co\'erts: breast and upper belly yellow. a black crescent on the breast; sides 
     
     and lower belly whitisln spotted or streaked with black. Winter plumage.— 
     
     Upper parts more widely mareined with grayish brown. these grayish brown 
     
     tips with small. broken black bars: yellow of under parts duller, the black 
     
     crescent. Veiled with whitile \\'.. 4'04]; ._ woo; ]’,__ 1-3.“). 
     
    

    
     Rani/as" Western North America. north to llritish (‘olumbia and Mani- 
     
     sparingly t0 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     'a. Kansas. and Texa 
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
    
   
   
    
     toba: east regularly to llnkota. Nebra 
     
     Illinois and Wisconsin; south through western Mexico" tllidgw.) 
     
    

    
     The \Vestern Meadowlark resembles the eastern bird in habits but 
     
     differs from it so decidedly in song that some ornithologists consider 
     
     it adistiuet species and not a geographical race. In his charmingr 
     
     biography of the Prairie Lark. Ernest l“. 'l‘hompson writes: “ ln rich- 
     
     ness of Voice and modulation it equals or excels both Wood Thrush 
     
     and Nightingale. and in the power and beauty of its articulation it 
     
     has no superior in the whole world of feathered choristers with which 
     
     I am acquainted ” (Birds of Manitoba). 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Tnot'I-IAL (503. [cirrus fem-us). a South American species, was re,— 
     
     corded by Audubon as accidental at Charleston. South (,‘arolina. 
     
    
   
   
    
     506. Icterus spurius (Lin/m. (Nu-nan!) Winona. .-1r/. 6. , llI-ad, 
     
     neck, throat, and upper back black; breast. belly, lower back, and lesser 
     
     wing—coverts chestnut; wings and tail t'uscous. more or less edged or tipped 
     
     with whitish. All. Quml'pper parts grayish olive-green. brighter on the 
     
     head and rump; wings t'useous. middle and greater eorerts tipped with “hit‘ 
     
     ish: tail bright olivevgreen: under parts dull yellow. [u]. 6 .jfrst gen/:—