178 



ALAUDID^. 



to wMch it ascends, and the time which it remains sus- 

 pended in mid-air. But the Skylark needs no panegyrists, 

 so, with all due deference to those who have struck the 

 lyre in its honour, I will endeavour to describe its habits 

 and haunts in humble prose. 



The Skylark is a generally-diffused bird, adapted by the 

 conformation of its claws for perching on the ground, and 

 by its length and power of wing for soaring high in the 



THE SXYLAKK. 



air. Accordingly, its food consists of small insects and 

 seeds, which it collects among the herbage of stubble- 

 fields, meadows and downs, or in newly-ploughed fields. 

 To this fare, it adds in winter and spring the tender stalk 

 of sprouting corn. Hence it is regarded with deadly hos- 

 tility by farmers, and hence, too, the quiet of the country' 

 is much disturbed at these seasons, by boys employed 

 to frighten it away by screaming and plying a peculiar 



