Their Eggs and Nests, 103 



ago, I was speaking the solemn words, " dust to dust, 

 ashes to ashes," over a dead parishioner, followed, as 

 they soon are, by the telling of our " sure and certain 

 hope of a joyful resurrection," when a Sky Lark, right 

 over our heads, broke out into his sweet, simple, thank- 

 ful, hopeful, joyous melody, and by it spoke to more 

 sad hearts than one in that silent company. Up, up, 

 to the sky was his pathway, and the song and the 

 soaring both said that a "joyful resurrection" was 

 no " cunningly devised fable." 



The Sky Lark's nest is always on the ground, often 

 near the edge of a furrow, sometimes near a little 

 grassy unevenness of the surface, sometimes, even, 

 cunningly concealed in a dry grassy grip by the side 

 of a field at the foot of a low hedge-banko It is but 

 a slight and inartificial structure of bents, lined with 

 finer grasses and a few fibrous roots. The eggs, which 

 I never knew to exceed five in number, vary as much 

 in general colour and markings as the Tree Pipit's, 

 and quite bafile verbal description. I once found 

 three in a nest, altogether dusky in general liue, and 

 so dark that I can hardly use the word brown in 

 describing the shade ; while generally " dark grey " 

 and " ash brown " will succeed in conveying an idea 

 of the mottlings characterising the ^gg. Besides 

 which, by no means a small proportion of a large 

 collection of Sky Lark's eggs will always be found to 

 show a prevailing tinge of green in the surface 

 colouring. The Lark is a very faithful mother, and 

 will not easily be induced to leave her nest ; and even 

 when the nest has become quite untenable any longer, 

 from any cause, the parent birds have been known to 



