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Arthur and Alan D. Singer: Lark Bunting and Columbine
Lark Bunting Lark Buntings come to the Great Plains from Mexico and Louisiana, and their arrival is a lovely spectacle to behold. They fly in by the hundreds, the females in striped brown plumage, the breeding males in gleaming black. The rear ranks of birds flutter continuously to the front, and the entire assembly rolls over the greening land like some marvelous wheel. The splendid male often sings in flight, rocketing upward. The female, however, is less exuberant than her male counterpart, and is content to sit and incubate her nest of pale blue eggs. The Lark Bunting's breeding ground may be on dry plain or moist prairie, wherever nature has provided an abundance of edible seeds and insects. Rocky Mountain Columbine As legend has it, long ago in Rome when someone saw the quaintly-shaped, five-spurred Columbine, his lively imagination pictured five little doves perched on the rim of a dish feeding together, so he named the flower columbina, from the Latin columba, meaning "dove." The five petals form funnels, each ending in a slender, upward-curving spur. These spurs contain nectar, and short-tongued insects sometimes nip holes in them to collect the sweet juice. Columbines grow wild in many places, and many varieties of different colors -- yellow, purple and blue to name a few -- are cultivated in gardens. The large Rocky Mountain Columbine is the one honored as the state flower of Colorado. This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood® First Day Cover for the 20¢ Colorado: Lark Bunting and Rocky Mountain Columbine stamp issued on April 14, 1982. Artwork Copyright © 1978 Unicover Corporation. All Rights Reserved under United States and international copyright laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, or otherwise exploit the Artwork in any way. Images of the Artwork may be watermarked and/or digitally watermarked. Any sale of the physical original does not include or convey the Copyright or any right comprised in the copyright.
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