118 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



exactly by the human lips) has never gladdened 

 my ears before the latter half of February, till by 

 the first week of March all the songsters are in 

 full voice at their breeding-grounds. To my mind 

 the Wood-Lark is easily the primo musico amongst 

 British song-birds, not even excepting the Nightin- 

 gale, though to some its music is open to the 

 objection of lacking variety. The bird is often a 

 late singer, its matchless melody of sweet, rich, 

 liquid notes is frequently to be heard far on into the 

 watches of the night. To hear, as I have heard, 

 several singing together far up in the dusky cobalt 

 of a June evening is a concert to be envied and 

 cherished perpetually. It is well worth going 

 miles to listen to. The song is generally uttered 

 from high in the air, as the musician flies in wide 

 circles, hanging and drifting at intervals, but it is 

 not unfrequently delivered from some hillock or 

 rock on the ground, or from the branch of some 

 tree. It is, however, at its zenith when heard 

 from the heavens. 



At a distance, the Wood-Lark's rather undu- 

 lating and jerky flight which reminds me of a 

 compromise between that of a bat and that of the 

 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker combined with the 

 marked shortness of its tail and its unmistakeable 

 call -note, all serve to identify it immediately. At 

 closer quarters it will be more than ever noticed 

 that it is distinctly smaller and more squat than its 

 cousin, the Sky -Lark ; its plumage is of a warmer 



