548 Fragments of Ornithology. 



The Skylark (AlaMa arvensis) and the Woodlark (A. 

 arbbrea) are both plentiful ; and I hardly know of the song of 

 each which to admire most. The skylark has been the theme 

 of poesy time out of mind ; and a delightful theme it is ; and 

 cheering is the song as he mounts aloft in early spring, when 

 all things are cheering : but the woodlark cheers us when all 

 else is desolate. He delights us in a December morning, 

 when "the sun shines cold," wheeling his circling flight in the 

 air, round, and round, and round, without any upward pro- 

 gress whatever; and thus he pours forth his voluminous 

 song for hours and hours together ; and, whilst three or four 

 are thus vying with each other on the wing, there is scarcely 

 a tree in the wood that is not occupied by one or more of the 

 little musicians, who make the whole neighbourhood resound 

 with their warblings. I always fancy the song of the wood- 

 lark, at this dreary and cheerless season, as one of the most 

 delightful of rural sounds : it exhilarates the spirits, which 

 are prone to be depressed by the muggy December weather ; it 

 gives a cheerfulness to the otherwise dreary appearance of 

 nature ; it induces a flow of charitable and good-natured 

 feeling in the heart, and excites a glowing sense of enthusiasm 

 in that of the naturalist : in fact, it is altogether delightful, and 

 must be heard, as I have frequently heard it, on a still Sab- 

 bath morning on the uplands, when all the busy hum of men 

 is hushed in the vale below, before it can be duly appre- 

 ciated. 



Mr. Jesse informs us (in his Gleanings^ i. 5. and 6.), that he 

 has observed the skylark remove its eggs from one field to 

 another in its claws ; and he imagines that this is the use for 

 which the long hinder claw was intended. When a man 

 states a fact, I have no right to doubt its truth. Mr. Jesse, I 

 have no doubt, feels confident of the correctness of his ob- 

 servation ; and I am sure he is too honest, to wish to impose 

 upon his readers : I think, however, that the man who saw so 

 much similarity between the egg of the magpie and lapwing 

 (VII. 338. note*) may possibly have made some mistake with 

 regard to the extraordinary fact which he records. But, leav- 

 ing the fact, let us look to the inference. If the lark were 

 the only bird that deposits its egg on the ground, then there 

 might be some plausibility in the opinion that its long hinder 

 claw was furnished for its convenience in removing its eggs 

 when disturbed : but the rail and the partridge deposit their 

 eggs in similar situations, and are equally liable to be disturbed 

 by the husbandman ; and yet they are not furnished with long 

 claws. There are many other observations which suggest 

 themselves upon this subject ; but I will not pursue it. Mr. 



