58 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 

 Family ALAUDID^E. Genus Alauda. 



SKY-LARK. 



Alauda arvensis, Linnccus. 

 Double Brooded. Laying season, April to July. 



British BREEDING AREA: The Sky-Lark is generally 

 distributed throughout the British Islands, breeding in 

 every part, even including the Hebrides, the Orkneys 

 and Shetlands, 



Breeding habits : The great breeding-grounds of 

 the Sky-Lark are the farm lands ; wherever agriculture is 

 pursued the bird is present, and breeds in more or less 

 abundance. It also frequents the upland moors and 

 wild, uncultivated wastes, but is never found in wood- 

 lands or on country where trees are close together. 

 Early in March the flocks of Sky-Larks begin to disband 

 and to separate into pairs for the coming breeding 

 season. During this period the Sky-Lark is not at all 

 gregarious or even social, and each pair keeps exclu- 

 sively to itself. Numbers of nests may often be found, 

 however, within the area of fifty acres. The Sky-Lark 

 appears to pair each spring ; but not, I am of opinion, 

 for every brood. During the mating season the male 

 not only warbles on the ground as he runs to and fro, 

 but may oft be seen in chase of the female, or beating 

 off a rival for her favours. The nest is invariably built 

 upon the ground, either amongst growing crops of grass 

 and grain, amongst the coarse rank herbage on the 

 common or waste, or snugly hidden in the ling and 

 heath. It is made in a shallow depression, either 

 scraped out by the bird or in the footprint of a horse 

 or cow. It is not a very bulky structure, and is made 

 of dry grass, straws, and scraps of moss, and lined 



