2 al « ve < . 7aQ o x :
1 to rear two or more broods. The eggs, like the Sky-Lark s, are four or five in number, and of a
UC

1 1 i ‘kled V ith bro n.
redd sh-white ground, S potted and frec V WwW | .
: = omp siti n i nest @ ppears to va y ith the natur of th mater ials at hand—being sometime
ve C OSItIO of ene a vary W e e

formed of dry grass, lined with finer blades intermingled with Doles ee Ai coarse Bre bbe roots,
mixed occasionally with moss and the skeletons of decayed leaves, lined with ne ee of the same
kind, and always a few hairs. Professor Newton informed Mr. Plevaisen that in the neighbourhood of
Thetford, in Norfolk, ‘‘ the localities to which the birds are most partial are old sheep-walks in the vicinity
of Scotch fir trees. On places such as these the herbage is so scanty that they can hardly be said to
choose a tuft of grass as the situation of their nests, though they generally select a spot where the bents
are thickest. I have, however, found a nest where the turf was as short as on a well-kept lawn, and I have
seen one secluded in a clump of heather. Their nests are usually more compact than those of the Sky-
Lark, and will bear being taken up from the hole in which they are built.”

“The Wood-Lark,” says Mr. Hewitson, “breeds annually in Oatlands Park, where heath and fir trees
are abundant. In the spring of 1849, on the 4th of April, Mr. J. Hancock found a nest and eggs within a
few yards of my house. It was fortunately well sheltered in a tuft of rough, dry grass; for some days after,
when the old bird was sitting very close, it was completely covered, for some hours, by a heavy storm of
snow.’ —IJU/. Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 180.

Mr. Yarrell states that the voice of the Wood-Lark ‘“ has neither the variety nor the power of that of
the Sky-Lark, but is superior to it in quality of tone, and by many persons preferred on that account.
There is also a plaintive character in its song, which is second only to that of the Nightingale; and, like

early, anc

that bird, it is said also to sing during warm summer nights. Several writers have heard this Lark sing sweetly
even in the months of December and January; and as the season advances, being an early breeder, it is heard
to advantage in March and April, while wheeling in circles, and sometimes hovering high in air.”

“Sometimes,” says the Rev. C. A. Johns, ‘ especially during sunshine after a summer shower, it alights on
the summit of a lofty tree, to ‘unthread its chaplet of musical pearls ;’ and its simpler 4/u notes may be
heard as it flies from place to place, while but a few feet above the surface of the ground.”

When taking flight, the Wood-Lark at first ascends for a short distance in a vertical line, but soon changes
to a spiral progress, during which the area of each circle is increased until it has attained the height it
desires; it then floats or hovers for a time, and again descends in a similar manner, with outstretched and
apparently motionless wings, until it reaches the ground, along which, on alighting, it runs for a short
distance. Selby says that it will continue in the air for a whole hour—and Bechstein, for several hours,
singing all the while without intermission.

The old birds and the young of the year generally keep together during their first winter in small flocks,
and are seldom seen in more numerous parties. The food consists of grain, seeds of various kinds, insects
and worms; if the weather be very severe the Wood-Lark associates with Sparrows, Buntings, and other
birds in endeavouring to obtain food in stack-yards and the neighbourhood of barns and out-houses. The
young being in great request as cage-birds, they are eagerly sought for, and are captured in great numbers
every year.

There is no difference in the colouring of the sexes.

LRA DT. 2 LAG 1 6 . s rie
he Plate represents a male and a female, of the size of life.