216 THE LARKS 



the last remains with the parents throughout the winter ; while the 

 earlier broods, in the case of both species now under consideration, 

 are driven off by the parents as soon as they are able to fend for them- 

 selves. This is not, as it might seem, to be taken as a proof of 

 callousness on the part of the parents, but is rather a wise step, since 

 by their dispersion the breeding area does not become overcrowded 

 and so cause competition for food between parents and offspring, 

 thus bringing disaster on all. Indeed, there are many instances which 

 prove without question the love which the parents bear for their young. 

 Yarrell, for example, 1 quoting Jesse, cites an instance of a bird 

 which dropped a young one it was carrying, apparently to remove it 

 from some real or imaginary danger, for a distance of thirty feet 

 and unfortunately the fall was fatal. Later, quoting Mr. Blyth, 

 he gives particulars of a case wherein a nest was laid bare by the 

 sweep of a scythe, revealing a brooding bird, which but for its concern 

 for the callow young which the nest proved to contain, could have 

 escaped long before the scythe reached it. An hour later, when 

 the nest was again examined, it was found that the parents had 

 constructed a dome of dry grass for its concealment. At all times 

 they display the most jealous care not to reveal the whereabouts of 

 the nest, alighting always at some distance therefrom, and running 

 up to it under cover of the herbage, while in leaving the nest similar 

 precautions are observed. Yet, unwittingly, they betray themselves 

 by the pitiful distress they exhibit whenever the neighbourhood of 

 the nursery is approached. 



As autumn advances the skylark becomes gregarious, assembling 

 in large flocks, which keep together throughout the winter. At this 

 time they may do a certain amount of damage to crops, injuring, for 

 example, autumn-planted wheat about old Michaelmas, while they 

 also levy unwelcome toll on newly drilled oats. Their presence on 

 the clover-backs in winter is not always without its disadvantages, 

 yet they undoubtedly consume an enormous quantity of pernicious 



1 Yarrell, British Birds, vol. i. p. 617. 



