214 THE LARKS 



black spots, and at its tip is a third, triangular in shape. These spots, 

 it is held by some, have been developed to serve as guides to the 

 parents in feeding, and no serious objections have yet been brought 

 forward against this interpretation. Originally, they were probably 

 developed in young reared in dimly lighted places, since in young 

 reared in such nurseries these markings are most conspicuously 

 developed. In many Passerines these spots have been more or 

 less completely lost, in others traces remain, as in the skylark and 

 many others, just as many other vestiges of now useless characters 

 survive. 



Young larks are fed largely on worms, and these are not dropped 

 into the mouth, but are carefully placed on the top of the tongue 

 the spots helping to speedy disposition of the food. Experiments 

 lend support to this view, for they show that the gape-flanges and 

 palate are comparatively insensitive to touch, but the tongue, on 

 the contrary, responds readily. Mr. Kearton, 1 in describing his 

 observations on the method of feeding, remarks that the hen quickly 

 alighted, and running up gave to each in turn a small worm, fetched 

 apparently from the back of her throat. Generally, however, the 

 worm was held in the tip of the beak. On an average, feeding took 

 place about every quarter of an hour. The nestlings he watched 

 were nearly ready to fly, and one, more venturesome than the rest, 

 left the nest and wandered some fifteen yards away. But it was 

 discovered immediately on the return of its parent to the nest, and 

 fed ; then she proceeded to the nest and fed the rest. In this case, 

 at any rate, the male rendered no help, but contented himself with 

 carolling gaily just above the nest ! The young, during the absence 

 of their parent, spent most of the time stretching and gaping. 



And here we may remark that in all that pertains to the labours 

 of nest-building, incubation, and feeding the young, the woodlark 

 agrees with the skylark except that, it is said, the female alone 

 incubates. 2 Both sexes feed the young, and these, like young 



1 Wild Life at Home, pp. 73, 74. 2 Naumanu, op. tit. 



