WOODLARK. 327 



forked, and a great portion of the outer, with the 

 exterior web of the second feathers white. The 

 cheeks are wood brown, the breast a paler and 

 more yellow shade, spotted with longitudinal 

 marks of brownish black; the remaining under 

 parts are yellowish white, nearly pure on the 

 centre of the belly. Legs and feet are yellowish 

 brown. The female scarcely differs. Cream- 

 coloured and nearly white varieties occur. 



THE WOODLARK, ALAUDA ARBOREA, Linn. 

 Alauda arborea, Linn. Woodlark of British 

 authors. This species, as the familiar name indi- 

 cates, is more woodland in its habits than the 

 last, or indeed than any species with whose 

 habits we are acquainted. At the same time, it 

 is not an arboreal bird, perching even but rarely, 

 but frequenting pasture lands and cultivated fields 

 in a woodland country, or one interspersed with 

 old hedges and copses of brushwood. It is cele- 

 brated also for its song, which by all its describers 

 is stated to be melodious, and more richly toned 

 than that of the last, while it is deficient in varia- 

 tion and compass. The song is also uttered while 

 on the wing, but the flight is described to be in 

 wheeling circles, occasionally hovering, and not 

 in the gradual perpendicular ascent to a great 

 height, as performed by the last. It also some r 

 times, but less frequently, sings from the branch 

 of a decayed tree. The nest is placed on the 

 ground, under shelter of some tuft and herbage, 

 and in structure is somewhat similar to that of 



