Evening star., 1934-07-23
Western Meadowlark.
Sturnella Neglecta.

Western Meadowlark.
SturneIla Neglecta.
40 BELOVED is this sweet singer
that Kansas, Montana, Me-
braska, North and South Da-
- kota. Oregon and Wyoming
chose IL as their State bird.
What greater recommendation can be
offered you to prove that here Is, IN
deed, an interesting neighbor.
He has many qualities that make
him an outstanding figure. He gets
along beautifully with his relatives!
For, as you may have heard, he Is
really not lark, but blackbird, and
is a first cousin to the oriole and the
blackbird.
In order that you may easily identify
this interesting fellow of the fields and
meadows, you should look for bird
that is a little larger than the robin
say, about l0lz inches-with black
bill that is l u inches long, business
like looking affair. The coat Is q
light brown, notified with black and
buff, and the head is striped. There
is a light line that runs through the
eve, alternating with two dark stripes.
His cheeks are gray and his throat,
breast and belly are yellow. On his
handsome yellow vest he has beau
tifuI black crescent-shaped collar
The outer tail feathers are almost
white. the middle feathers brown.
barred with black. The tail for so
portly gentleman is extremely short.
His call note has been compared
with a succession Of sneezes." All.
but his songl Who can describe 1t
adequately? A clear, sweet song that
some have interpreted as Spring of
the y-e-a-r." Others. I'm meadow
lark" And the lonely and heart
broken, Il love-you, d-e-a-r" T.
Gilbert Pearson tells the story of a
colored man down South who said the
meadowlark called, "Laziness-will kill
you" 1t is too bad that we cannot
have meadowlarks nearer than mead
ows to remind US that labor is active
harmony.
In the Spring. when the meadow
larks arrive. their first thought, OF
course, is finding their mates and
setting up Housekeeping. One author
ity says that the meadowlark. like
the eagle. mates for life. His voice is
sweet and clear and rings out from the
highest tree, pole or housetop he can
find He is not even willing To wait
until he reaches this spot to voice his
happiness, but pours out his notes as
he rises into the air. Standing where
his bright yellow breast shines in the
sunlight, his black locket glinting in
the glare of the morning sun, the bird
tries to express his happiness, his love
and his delight at being home once
more.
In the meadows, where he can do
the most good, he will be seen with
and orioles, busily engaged /
In routing our hordes OF pests. While /
meat is his first choice,
he varies it with juicy caterpillars, /
flies, spiders, crickets. beetles, and 1
never even passes up the thousand
Ieggers."
With his sharp and efficient beak. |
he goes after the white grubs of /
beetles that are the worst enemies of
many OF our cultivated crops. They
are the hidden workers that we find
out too late are doing their under
handed work under cover OF the soil.
So when we see a meadowlark close to
1ur plants, with bill well buried in the
soil, ne is doing a bit Of probing-in
our favor.
To find the home of the meadowlark,
where the nursery holds from five to
iix babies, will prove your alertness.
The Spring home is rather better con-
,tructed. It's walls and flooring are