328 LIFE HISTOKIES OF NOETH AMEEICAN BIRDS. 



She will then often rise into the air, when several males will toy with her and 

 flutter round and round, or <hirt hither and thither with great speed, singing all 

 the time. Sometimes the males will chase each other, and even fight for the 

 possession of the prize. 



"At this season of the }'ear the Skylark's song is particidarly loud and 

 charming. A few birds will often be tempted to sing by an unusually mild day 

 in winter, but the song is seldom fully resumed before March. I'lie manner in 

 which the Skylark sings, in the full view of all oliservers, is probably the secret 

 of the bird's popularity. Who has not seen this sond^er little bird rise from the 

 meadow grass or the heath, and has not watched its soaring flight as upward and 

 upward it goes until it appears but a speck or is entirely lost in the skyl He 

 bounds up from the cover on fluttering wings and with outstretched tail, rising 

 a little way in silence, then, bursting into song, he pursues his upward course. 

 At first the wings are beaten veiy rapidly, in a fluttering way; but when the 

 bird gets higher the movements are more regular. Sometimes it rises directly 

 upward, but very often goes far away from the place of its first ascent, sailing 

 over the fields, but in an ever-rising course. When the zenith of its flight is 

 reached it will sometimes fly about for a short time, singing; l;)ut more usually 

 it comes down again directly. The song is continued until the ground is 

 neared, when the bird usually drops like a stone, or flutters off over the grass 

 ere seeking the cover. These aerial movements are not essential to the bird's 

 song; it will sing quite as sweetly when perched on a clod of earth or on the 

 ground, and it often Avarbles a few notes when running about amongst the grass 

 or over the fallows. The height of the song flights also varies considerably. 

 Sometimes the bird may be seen fluttering at a moderate height, singing very 

 sweetly, and remaining in the air for some considerable time; and it will 

 occasionally sit and sing on a small bush or a wall. When engaged in his 

 soaring flights the little songster will cease his strains and drop to the ground if 

 a Merlin makes its appearance, and if a Sparrow Hawk does so, he soars still 

 higher; but a Kestrel is never regarded as an enemy. 



"The Skylark has no great variety of notes — his compass is small — nor are 

 those he })Ossesses either })owerful or rich in tone; but he pours forth his song so 

 industriously, so continuously, and arranges his notes so harmoniously that the 

 songs of few birds are listened to with more pleasure. The song of the Skylark 

 is pre-eminently cheerful; and if the monotony and continuousness of the music 

 reminds you of that of a bagpipe, it has at least no melancholy in its tone. It 

 is not continued for so long a time as is generally supposed, ranging from two 

 minutes to about a quarter of an hour. The call note of the Skylark can not 

 be expressed on paper; it may best be described as a liquid, musical, double 

 note, somewhat resembling the sound made by a whistle half full of water. 



"The Skylark is not very shy, and will often allow the observer to watch it 

 within a distance of a few yards. It runs about with great ease, often pausing 

 for a moment to look warily around, stretching out its neck and standing as high 

 on its legs as possible; but it often skulks very closely in the herbage. Its flight 



