THE SKY-LARK. 115 



easily be watched, and its young fall a prey to some 

 marauding- ploughboy." 



That the lark is strongly attached to her eggs and 

 young, has long been known. In one instance, some 

 mowers actually shaved off the upper part of a sky-lark's 

 nest, but she did not fly away, and they levelled the grass 

 all about her without her taking further notice of their 

 movements. A youth, son of the owner of the crop, 

 observed this, and, about an hour after, went to see if 

 she were safe, when, to his great surprise, he found she 

 had constructed a dome of dry grass over the nest dur- 

 ing the interval, leaving an aperture on one side for 

 ingress and egress, thus endeavouring to secure a conti- 

 nuance of the shelter previously afforded by the long 

 grass. 



The same naturalist has observed, that the parents, 

 when alarmed, remove their eggs by means of their 

 long claws, and that very quickly, to a place of greater 

 security ; and a shepherd in Scotland recently men- 

 tioned having witnessed the same circumstance. 



The lark is a very early riser. Thus one poet says : — 



"Up springs the lark, 

 Shrill-voiced and loud, the messenger of morn 

 Ere yet the shadows fly, he, mounted, sings 

 Amid the dawning clouds." 



