628 ALAUDID^. 



smooth as a well-kept lawn, or in a clump of heather, while 

 Neville Wood has seen it on the stump of a felled oak : it is 

 formed externally of coarse grass with a little moss, lined 

 with finer bents, and is more compact than most Larks' 

 nests. The eggs are four or five in number, measuring from 

 •9 to -74 by from -67 to -58 in., of a white or white with a 

 faint tinge of green, finely freckled and blotched with hair- 

 brown and patches of lavender, the markings being often 

 bold and sometimes collected in a zone. Nidification begins 

 early in the year and the first eggs are often laid by the 

 middle of March. As soon as these birds are hatched and 

 the young flown, a second nest is prepared usually near the 

 first, and later in the season a third, or perhaps in some 

 cases even a fourth, brood is produced. In East Anglia the 

 young of the earlier hatches totally disappear on leaving the 

 nest, and what becomes of them has hitherto defied the 

 scrutiny of the Editor and his brother, who formerly gave 

 much attention to the pleasing habits of this species ; but 

 those of the last brood seem to emigrate with their parents 

 from that district soon after they are fit for flight, and from 

 the evidence of observers in other parts of the country would 

 seem to keep together in a family-party through their first 

 winter, being seldom seen in larger flocks. The food of 

 this species in summer consists almost entirely of insects, 

 but later, in the year small seeds are also sought, and in 

 spring the tender leaves and sprouts of various plants are 

 added. 



Though not distributed generally the Woodlark is known 

 to breed in particular spots throughout the southern parts of 

 England as far as Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, be- 

 coming perhaps more common in the western midland 

 counties from Gloucestershire to Staffordshire. It also 

 frequents certain localities both in South and North Wales. 

 Its restricted range in the eastern counties has been already 

 sufficiently noticed and it seems to breed but rarely from 

 Bedfordshire northwards, with the exception of Derbyshire, 

 the east riding of Yorkshire, South Lancashire and West- 

 moreland. Its precise limits however cannot be given and 



