THE WOODLARK, ^ 



to by poets and other writers in terms of pleasure and 

 admiration. One speaks of the 



" Wild unfrequent note of the lone Woodlark." 



And Gilbert White, the eminent naturalist of Selborne, 

 sing-s of the pleasures of a summer evening in the country, 



when 



" Blended objects fail the swimming sight, 

 And all the fading landscape sinks in night, 

 While high in aii- and poised upon his wings 

 Unseen, the soft enamoured Woodlark sings." 



The nest is built of grass, thin fibrous roots, thin twi^s, 

 and occasionally moss, with a lining of liner grass or hair. 

 Usually it is placed under some tuft of grass, or at the side 

 of a stump of a tree, and at times in the side of a bank. 

 Foui- or five^gs are laid, of a pale brownish-white or brown- 

 ish-yellow, spotted with greyish or reddish-brown, and per- 

 haps a few marks or lines at the larger end. The eggs have 

 been found as early as February, but are generally laid in 

 March ; they are, however, not uufrequently found as late 

 as July. 



The plumage of the Woodlark is quiet and unpre- 

 tending ; the beak is dark brown above and pale yellow 

 underneath ; over the eye and ear-coverts there is a streak 

 of pale yellowish-brown. The feathers on the top of 

 the head are light brown, streaked with a darker shade, form- 

 ing a crest, which the bird frequently elevates. The upper 

 part of the body is wood-brown, with streaks and patches 

 of brownish-black on the neck and back. The tail is short, 

 and is brownish-black, triangularly tipped with white, and 

 has a light brown feather on each side, and a couple of 

 ])ale brown ones in the centre ; the under parts are pale 

 yell()wish-l)ro\vn, speckled with long marks of dark brown. 



