PLEASANT OUTINGS 269 



ascend in a series of upward leaps, making a kind of 

 aerial stairway, up, up, on and up, until he was about 

 the size of a humming-bird framed against the blue 

 dome of the sky. So far did he plunge into the ceru- 

 lean depths that I could just discern the movement of 

 his wings. While scaling the air he did not sing, but 

 having reached the proper altitude, he opened his man- 

 dibles and let his ditty filtrate through the ether like a 

 shower of spray. It could be heard quite plainly, 

 although at best the lark's song is a weak, indefinite 

 twitter, its peculiar characteristic being its carrying 

 quality, which is indeed remarkable. 



The soloist circled around and around in the upper air 

 so long that I grew dizzy watching him, and rny eyes be- 

 came blinded by the sun and the glittering sky. How 

 long he kept up his aerial evolutions, singing all the 

 while, I am unprepared to announce, for I was too much 

 engrossed in watching him to consult my timepiece; 

 but the performance lasted so long that I was finally 

 obliged to throw myself on my back on the ground to 

 relieve the strain upon me, so that I might continue to 

 follow his movements. I venture the conjecture that 

 the show lasted from fifteen to twenty minutes ; at least, 

 it seemed that long to me in my tense state of body and 

 mind. Finally he shot down like an arrow, making my 

 head fairly whirl, and landed lightly on the ground, 

 where he skipped about and resumed his roundelay as 



