538 ROCK LARK. 



this country : he afterwards found it not uncom- 

 mon on all the abrupt rocky coasts from Kent to 

 the Land's-End, in Cornwall : it appears to be en- 

 tirely confined to the vicinity of the sea, as it is 

 never found, even in winter, at a great distance 

 from the shore : it commences breeding early in 

 the spring, and places its nest on the ledge of a 

 rock near the sea, where there are a few scanty 

 bushes or tufts of grass : it is formed of dry grass, 

 marine plants, and a small quantity of moss, and 

 lined with fine grass and a few long hairs : the 

 eggs are four or five in number, of a dirty white, 

 sprinkled with numerous specks of brown, darker 

 and confluent at the larger end, appearing on that 

 part wholly of that colour j they weigh about 

 thirty-six grains, and are rather larger than those 

 of the Tit-lark. At the commencement of the 

 spring it begins its song, which greatly resembles 

 that of the bird above mentioned ; and like that 

 species it mounts in the air, and returns to the 

 ground or some neighbouring rocks with ap- 

 parently motionless wings. 



