THE OOLOQI8T 



105 



the Skylark. Day after day the song 

 increased, and by the 1st of March the 

 air seemed filled with the songs of 

 many individuals. Rain or shine the 

 song continued from dawn until dark 

 with little intermission. On Sunday 

 afternoon, March 9th, 1919, I went to 

 the fields ahove the village to observe 

 the larks. At all times in the villages 

 the birds could be heard as they 

 soared high in the air, but on this af- 

 ternoon each bird seemed to be try- 

 ing to out-sing his fellow songster. 

 The blue sky filled with fleecy clouds 

 was glorious; indeed it was a most 

 beautiful day, in fact, a rare treat to 

 the doughboy accustomed to the driz- 

 zling rain. As I ascended the hill sev- 

 eral larks could be seen soaring over 

 the valley, and the songs of many 

 more could be heard. On reaching 

 the fields I stationed myself behind 

 some bushes near a place where sev- 

 eral larks were seen to take wing. 

 Here I had an excellent opportunity to 

 observe them. There were about half 

 a dozen individuals on perhaps half 

 an acre of ground. Usually from one 

 to three of these were in the a:r. I 

 noticed that they usually began sing- 

 ing a few seconds before they took 

 wing and ceased while many yards in 

 the air. However, this rule was not 

 strictly adhered to by all individuals. 

 As the bird arose in full song it usual- 

 ly went straight up for many yards, 

 and then seemed to waft with the 

 wind, higher and higher until at last 

 it hovers on fluttering wings, 

 never ceasing to sing for an int^tant. 

 It thus remains, as it were, suspended 

 in the air for perhaps half a minute 

 before it slowly flutters to the earth. 

 Though this hoverin g in the air is 

 usually performed at the climax of 

 its flight, occasionally a bird would be 

 seen to ascend, or descend, a short 

 distance and repeat the performance. 

 Several were noticed while descending 



that suddenly ceased singing while 

 many yards in the air, and at once 

 dropped to the ground not prolonging 

 their flight as while singing. One bird 

 that I watched particularly returned 

 to almost the exact spot from which 

 it took wing. 



So high does the Skylark mount 

 while singing that it is often impos- 

 sible to see it though its clear, sweet 

 song cannot fail to attract attention. 

 To a person unacquainted with the 

 habits of birds, it would seem that the 

 same lark is on the wing from morn- 

 ing until night, as one or several birds 

 are always in full song in the air. On 

 timing several birds I found that the 

 length of time individuals remained in 

 the air varied considerably. Two that 

 did not go out of sight remained in 

 the air one minute and forty second, 

 and two minute and ten seconds re- 

 spectively. The bird that remained in 

 the air for the longest period recorded 

 was high in the air when first seen 

 and it was four minutes before it 

 reached the earth. Usually a bird re- 

 mained in the air for a trifle over two 

 minutes during which time it may 

 have been lost to sight from twenty 

 to thirty seconds. Sometimes a bird 

 would rise a fev/ yards in the air and 

 drop back to earth as if undecided 

 whether or not to take an aerial jour- 

 ney. The song of the Skylark is 

 sometimes delivered on the ground. 



To me the Skylark's song is inde- 

 scribable. It is entirely different from 

 any bird with which I am acquainted. 

 It is said to somewhat resemble the 

 .-^ong of the Bobolink, and though I 

 could perceive a similarity in some of 

 its notes the Skylark's song is not de- 

 livered in the mad, reckless manner 

 of "Doblincon". Its notes are more 

 distinctly given yet they closely fol- 

 low one another. Some of its notes 

 somewhat resemble notes of the song 

 (if it can be so called) of the Prairie 



