1592 



THE PERCHING BIRDS 



nest in the side of a tussock of rough grass. It is a simple structure, lined with 

 fine grass. The young are exposed to the attacks of ground vermin, owing to 

 their being reared upon the ground, but they are screened from their enemies 

 by the highly-protective characteristic of their first plumage, which is 

 spotted with buff, and assimilates to the color of dried grasses even more closely 

 than the darker tints of the adult birds. The skylark sometimes nests in very 



SKYLARK, WOODI.ARK, AND CRESTED I.ARK. 



(Two-thirds natural size.) 



exposed situations; one pair having built their nest on the bank of a cricket 

 field, immediately abutting upon a highroad. In the breeding season it is a 

 singularly fearless bird, and the parents of a young brood will often allow a 

 stranger to approach within a very few yards before they take wing. Waited 

 upon by their parents most sedulously, the young birds leave the nest long 

 before they are strong upon the wing; these "pushers" being often caught 



