60 A LONG DAY ‘WITH THE BIRDS 
nest which Ted found. It contained four 
eges of a light greenish-brown colour, marked 
all over with close lines and marks of darker 
brown. The joyous song of the bird on the 
wing is often kept up for half an hour or 
even more at a time. Who has not heard the 
lark sing? The notes are heard even in 
winter (like those of the blackbird and thrush) 
if the weather be mild. But the bird is in 
full song all through the nesting season. It 
is a painful sight to see a skylark cooped up 
in a little wooden cage made with a round 
front like a bay window, in which one small 
sod of grass is placed for the bird! Even 
then, however, it will sing, fluttering its wings 
the while, trying to imagine itself soaring 
up above the sunlit fields! The bird” 1s 
prolific, laying four or five eggs each clutch, 
and nesting two or three times each season, 
from the month of April onwards. A sky- 
lark’s nest is a thing to look for right through 
the summer. Though large numbers of the 
birds are eaten (and I must admit they are 
a delicacy) we still meet with them almost 
