250 



CONIEOSTRES. 



and small worms. Their nests are of very simple 

 construction, and placed upon the ground. 



The type of the race is — 



The Skylark [Alauda arvends), the musician of the 

 fields ; its delightful song, like a hymn of joy, announces 

 the approaching sj^ring, and accompanies the earliest 

 blush of morning. It is heard from the very commence- 

 ment of those fine days which succeed the cold and gloom 

 of winter, and its notes are the first to welcome the 

 }>loughman to his task. During the noontide of day it is 

 silent, but when the sun declines towards the west, the 

 lark fills the air with his varied and tuneful warblings. 



Fig. 104.— the skylaek. 

 (Alauda arvenms.) 



" Rising, as it were by a sudden impulse, from its nest oi- 

 lowly retreat, it bursts forth, while but yet a few feet 

 from the ground, into exuberant song ; and with its head 

 turned to the breeze, now ascending perpendicularly, now 

 veering to the right or left, but not describing circles, it 

 pours forth an unbroken stream of melody, until it has 



