When the meadowlark sings on a fence-rail she but cons her lesson from the stars.

One hot, stifling spring in the Little Antelope I had occasion to pass and repass frequently the nest of a pair of meadowlarks, located unhappily in the shelter of a very slender weed.

She had fed her young son with meadowlarks' tongues, to make him quick of speech; but in late years was loath to admit it, though she had come through the period of unfaith in the lore of the clan with a fine appreciation of its beauty and significance.

The heart in the girl sang a song of sunshine dancing on grass, of meadowlarks flinging out their carefree notes of joy.

You bells in the steeple, ring, ring out your changes, How many soever they be, And let the brown meadowlark's note, as he ranges, Come over, come over to me!

R102680, 19Nov52, Dele Newman Doke (C) SINCLAIR, BERTHA (MUZZY) Meadowlark Basin, by B. M. Bower [pseud.] Front.

R102680, 19Nov52, Dele Newman Doke (C) SINCLAIR, BERTHA (MUZZY) Meadowlark Basin, by B. M. Bower [pseud.] Front.

And all the wages they ask is permission to work for a living and protection from those of his fellowmen who covet the Oriole and Cardinal for their gay feathers and the Robin and Meadowlark for pot-pie.

Others that walk on the ground, like the Robin, the Thrush, Meadowlark, Crow, and Red-winged Blackbird, eat ground things, such as the fat cutworms which mow with sharp jaws the young plants of corn, cabbage, and onions.

"And when do they go away again?" "The great bird procession begins the first of March with Bluebirds, Robins, Redwings, and Meadowlarks, but it is the first of June before the latest comers, the little Marsh Wrens, are settled.

"The Thrasher's song is like some one talking cheerfully; the Meadowlark's is flute-like; the Oriole's is more like clarion notes; the Bobolink bubbles over like a babbling brook; while the dear little brown striped Song Sparrow, who is with us in hedge and garden all the year, sings pleasant home-like ballads.

The birds flying over the alders are Red-winged Blackbirds; those coming from the pines are Purple Grackles; the big black ones flying overhead are Crows; and the yellow-breasted fellows walking in the grass are Meadowlarks.

THE MEADOWLARK [Illustration: Meadowlark.]

THE MEADOWLARK [Illustration: Meadowlark.]

"In early March the Meadowlark comes to the places that he was obliged to leave in the winter, and cries, 'Spring o' the year!

"Then the Meadowlark begins to earn his living, and pay his taxes at the same time, by searching the fields and pastures first for weed seeds and then, as the ground softens, for the various grubs and beetles that meant to do mischief as soon as they could get a chance.

Here the mother tends the eggs and nestlings, the father always keeping near to help her, and continually singing at his daily toil of providing for his family as charmingly as if he were still a gay bachelor; for Meadowlarks are very affectionate both toward each other and their young.

"Olaf says the Meadowlarks are raising their second brood now and he can find you some empty nests, if you go with him, so you can see how they are made; he will show you the Redwings' nests, too.

The Meadowlark Length ten to eleven inches.

"There is a very handsome, rare, wonderful kind of a Meadowlark walking on the lawn by the front steps.

Do you think he has come out of a cage?" "No, missy, that is not a Meadowlark, is not rare or wonderful, and has not been in a cage; that is an every-day sort of a Woodpecker, having many names.

The Redwings and Meadowlarks sing all day long, the Marsh Wrens come along to join in, the Snipe begin to call, the Spotted Sandpipers whistle up, and we get a visit from the Wild Geese as they fly north.

Meadowlark Sturnel'la mag'na.

The meadowlarks would stop their singingeven the trailing shadows would seem to waver uncertainlyand only the creek would go gurgling on, uncaring.

Half the crew rolled their beds and rode elsewhere to spend the winter, returning, like the meadowlarks, with the first hint of soft skies and green grass.