4 8 



THE FIELD OR SKYLARK 



The eggs are of a pale, purplish-white colour, marked with streaks 

 and dots of reddish-brown and five in number. The yellow-ham- 

 mer or yellow bunting, shows great attachment to the young, each 

 parent taking turn upon the nest. The food is similar to that of 

 the common bunting. It frequents hedges and fields, and in winter, 

 along with other members of the Finch family, visits farmsteads. 

 The FIELD or SKYLARK (Alauda arvensis), Fig. 36, is included 

 in the family Fringillidae and forms, with other species, the sub- 

 family Alaudinae, which is recognized by the straight, short, conical 

 bill, and characterized by the great length and straightness of the 

 claw of the hind toe. Of a light brown colour with darker markings 

 and tinted white beneath, the skylark is familiar to every one 

 in the country as thoroughly terrestrial in habits, running along 



FIG. 36. THE FIELD OR SKYLARK. 



the ground, and soaring in the air pouring forth its melodious song. 

 It begins to sing when it rises from the ground to commence its 

 morning flight, the hour of three in the morning being the period 

 when the lark generally ascends in summer. The notes, at first 

 feeble and interrupted, swell out to their full tone as the songster 

 ascends, and long after the bird has passed from the range of vision, 

 the full notes of the melody are audible to the ear of the observer. 



In early spring the skylark begins its song, which it continues 

 throughout the summer and far into the autumn. The pairing 

 time is during the month of April. The nest is constructed of grasses 

 and lies on the ground, often in the print of a horse's foot, and most 

 frequently under the shelter of a tuft of grass or earthy clod. The 

 eggs are four or five in number, greenish white and spotted thickly 

 with brown, the period of incubation being about a fortnight, and 



