8 Birds I Have Kept. 



"Their food," continues the same author, ''consisted of crumb 

 of white bread, enough for the day, soaked in milk, which 

 was poured boiling over it everj' morning, and some ants' e^g% 

 given two or three times a day for a treat. The bottom of 

 the cage was covered with sand, which, together with the 

 water, was changed regularly every day. They were always 

 kept, in summer, outside the window, exposed to the free air, 

 screening them from the sun by covering the top of the cage 

 with a sheet of paper, or piece of linen by way of parasol. 

 The cage was furnished with two perches, for the AVood Lark, 

 unlike its relative the Sky Lark, sits on the branches of the 

 trees in the woods where, or near to which, it is found." 



The Wood Lark, like all the other members of the family 

 to which it belongs, builds its nest on the ground, among 

 tall grass, and generally in the vicinity of a wood or copse. 

 The nest itself is made of grass and moss, lined with wool 

 and hair: the eggs are variegated with light grey and brownish 

 violet on a white ground; the young are best reared, if at- 

 tempted to be brought up by hand, on bread and milk, and 

 ants' eggs; the more of the latter the better. 



The Wood Lark's weak point are its legs, which are ex- 

 tremely brittle and easily broken; so that the bird requires 

 plenty of water to bathe in, and great cleanliness in its sur- 

 roundings, to prevent any dirt from adhering to them. Although 

 it does not bathe when wild, it will do so freely in a cage, 

 and should always have the opportunity of doing so if it pleases. 

 "When wild it is continually running through long damp grass, 

 which renders any other washing unnecessary, and keeps its 

 legs and plumage in order: in the house it is not unapt to 

 become infested with vermin. 



Of all the Lark family the Wood Lark has by far the 

 sweetest song; its clear flute-like voice is particularly fasci- 

 nating, and no better teacher for a cage full of young Canaries, 

 not even excepting the Nightingale, can be found. When wild 

 these birds sing from March to July, and in the house from 



