30 



eyes. The feathers of the Lack :iie 

 blackish brown, with a broad margin; 

 in some parts, pale reddish brown, 

 and in others, whitish gray. The 

 rump is rusty gray striped with black- 

 ish brown; the chin, bell\' and vent, 

 yellowish white; the lower part of the 

 neck, the breast and the sides dingy 

 white, inclining to rnst color, and are 

 covered with fine blackish brown 

 lines. The wing covers are grayish 

 brown, the larger ones being edged 

 with pale reddish brown. The pen 

 feathers are dark brown, the five first 

 being whitish, the next reddish in 

 their margin, and those next to the 

 body, which aie larger than those in 

 the center are gray and they are all 

 tipped with white. The tail feathers 

 are blackish brown; those in the cen- 

 ter have on the inner plume a broad 

 margin of rusty brown; those on the 

 outside, of whitish gray; the two ex- 

 ternal feathers, on the whole of the 

 outer. and half of the inner plume, are 

 white. 



The female is somewhat smaller 

 than in^ male, and is characterized 

 by the mo»e numerous and larger 

 black spots, on the back and breast, as 

 well as by the generally lighter color 

 of the latter. 



The Skylarks feed on insects and 

 their larvae, various kinds of small 

 seeds, particularly the seeds of nox- 

 ious weeds, and various green shoots, 

 etc. It builds its nest on the ground, 

 and chiefly in fallow fields, or in 

 wheat, barley and oat fields, in clover 

 meadows or among the young corn. 

 It is roughly put together, of dry 

 grass and hair, and is usually placed 

 in some slight hollow. 



THE OREGON NATURALIST. 



The female lay 



twice and some- 

 times thrice a year four or five whitish 

 gray eggs spotted with grayish brown. 

 The period of incubation is fourteen 

 days, and the j'oung birds are often to 

 be seen as early as the end of April. 

 They are at first fed with insects, and 

 begin to run about near the nest before 

 they are fledged. Before the first 

 moulting the upper part of their body 

 is covered with white specks. During 

 the time of producing the eggs, the 

 female will sing with a power and va- 

 riety of tone equal to the voice of her 

 mate. The male Skylark, though at 

 other times timid, is, while the female 

 is sitting, both bold and pugnacious, 

 driving every other bird away that ven- 

 tures too near his charge; both watch- 

 ing and feeding her with unceasing 

 solicitude. 



The song of the Skylark is exceed- 

 ingly agreeable; and consists of pas- 

 sages, all of which may be character- 

 ized as trills or shakes on various 

 notes of the scale, and only occasion- 

 ally interrupted by the repetition of a 

 loud whistle. When it starts to sing 

 it flies upwards almost beyond the 

 reach of sight, often warbling for an 

 hour without any intermission. 



The poet says: "It sings at heav- 

 en's gate as if it had learned its love- 

 ly divine music and motions from the 

 angels, with its strains so full of glad- 

 ness, joy and melody. " 



No biid sings with more method 

 than the Skylark; there is an overture 

 performed, vivace crescendo, while the 

 singer ascends; when at its full 

 height the song becomes moderato, 

 and di.stinctly divided into short pas- 

 sages, each repeated three or four 



