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 MEADOW LAEK MEADOW MOUSE 311 sword by citizens of Philadelphia. He was made captain of engineers in 1856, and was in charge of the surveys on the northern lakes till 1861. He was commissioned brigadier general of volunteers, Aug. 81, 1861, and took part in the action of Dranesville, Va., Dec. 20 ; at Me- chanicsville, June 26, 1862; at Cold Harbor, June 27 ; and at Frazier's farm, June 30, where he was severely wounded. (See CHICKAHOM- INY.) On June 18, 1862, he was made major of topographical engineers. He was engaged in the second battle of Bull Run, Aug. 29, 30 ; commanded a corps of the army of the Poto- mac in the Maryland campaign; was in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam in Sep- tember ; and was made major general of vol- unteers Nov. 29. At Antietam he was slight- ly wounded and had two horses shot under him. From December, 1862, to June 28, 1863, he was in command of the first corps and af- terward of the fifth corps of the army of the Potomac, and was engaged at Fredericksburg and at Chancellorsville. On June 28, 1863, he was suddenly called to succeed Gen. Hooker in command of the army of the Potomac ; and on July 1-3 he fought the battle of Gettysburg. (See GETTYSBURG.) He was made brigadier general in the United States army July 3. From October to December he participated in several minor actions in Virginia. From May 4, 1864, to April 9, 1865, he was, under Gen. Grant, in the immediate command of the army of the Potomac, from the battle in the Wilder- ness down to the capture of Petersburg and the surrender of Lee. He was made major general in the United States army, Aug. 18, 1864. On Jan. 28, 1866, he received the thanks of congress "for the skill and heroic valor with which at Gettysburg he repulsed, defeated, and drove back, broken and dispir- ited, beyond the Rappahannock, the veteran army of the rebellion." From July 1,. 1865, to Aug. 6, 1866, he was in command of the military division of the Atlantic, in 1866-"T of the department of the East, and subsequently of the third military district, comprising Geor- gia, Florida, and Alabama, with headquarters at Philadelphia. He became a member of the historical society of Pennsylvania in 1863, and of the Philadelphia academy of natural sci- ences in 1865, in which year he received the degree of LL. D. from Harvard university. He died in a house which his fellow citizens pre- sented to his wife, and after his death a fund of $100,000 was subscribed for his family. MEADOW LARK, a starling, of the American genus sturnella (Vieillot). The body is thick and stout, the legs large, with hind toeg reach- ing beyond the tail, which is short, even, and of narrow pointed feathers ; the bill is nearly straight, and three times as long as high ; inner lateral toe longer than the outer; hind claw nearly twice as long as the middle; feathers of head stiffened, the shafts above extended into a black bristle. The common species (S. magnet, Swains.) is about 11 in. long, with an extent of wing of 16, and the bill 1 in. ; the color above is dark brown, each feather with a brownish white margin and a pale reddish brown terminal spot ; wings and tail with dark brown bars; yellow beneath, with a black pectoral crescent ; sides, rump, and tibige pale Meadow Lark (Sturnella magna). reddish brown, with blackish streaks ; a light median and superciliary stripe, yellow in front of the eye, and a black line behind. It is found in the eastern United States to the high central plains, extending perhaps as far south as Mex- ico. It is abundant in the southern states in the winter, whence it proceeds northward as far as Maine to breed, returning in the autumn in small flocks ; the flight is generally short, un- steady, and at a moderate elevation ; the notes at early morning are loud and melodious. The males are very pugnacious in breeding time; the nest is made of grasses in a hollow of the ground, and is covered over like an oven ; both sexes incubate; the eggs, four or five, are white, with reddish brown spots at the larger end ; the young are hatched about the end of June in the middle states. The meadow lark is the friend of the farmer in its destruction of injurious larvae, but it sometimes pulls up the young corn, grain, and rice; it occasion- ally kills small birds, especially in confinement. In autumn and winter meadow larks are fat, and are sought by sportsmen ; the flesh of the young is esteemed as food. On the Pacific coast is found a variety nearly resembling the other, but rather paler in tint, with the yellow on the chin and throat extending on the sides of the lower jaw. This bird is related to the star- lings of Europe, of the genus sturnus (Linn.) MEADOW MOUSE, the common name of the small rodents of the genus armcola (Lac6p.). The molars are f if, and rootless ; the ears are short, nearly hidden in the fur ; the muzzle is broad and rounded ; the tail shorter than the body, cylindrical and hairy, soles naked anteri- orly ; the skull short, deep-, and broad ; whis- kers in five horizontal series. The common meadow mouse of this country (A. riparia, Ord) is 4^- in. long, and the tail about 1 ; the feet large and scaly; hair rather short; the eyes small, the thumb of the fore foot obso- lete, and mammae four inguinal and four pec- toral ; the color above is dark brown, varied with reddish and yellowish brown ; ashy plum-