AMERICAN SKYLARKS 203 



" Diving upwai-d," was the word I found 

 myself using. Up lie goes, — up, up, up, 

 " higher still, and higher," — till aft^r a 

 while he breaks into voice. TThile singing 

 he holds his wings motionless, stiffly out- 

 stretched, and his tail widely spread, as if he 

 were doings his utmost to transfoi-m hiniseK 

 into a parachute — as no doubt he is. Then, 

 the brief, hurried strain delivered, he beats 

 the air asfain and makes another shoot hea- 

 venward. The whole display consists of an 

 alternation of rests accompanied by song (you 

 can alwavs see the music, thou2:h it is often 

 inaudible), and renewed upward pushes. 



In the course of his fliirht the bii'd covers 

 a considerable field, since as a matter of 

 course he cannot ascend vertically. He rises, 

 perhaps, directly at your feet, but before he 

 comes down, which may be in one minute or 

 in ten, he will have gone completely roimd 

 you in a broad circle ; so that, to follow him 

 continuously (sometimes no easy matter, his 

 altitiule beins: so sreat and the li^'ht so daz- 

 zling), you will be compelled almost to put 

 your neck out of joint. In our own case, 

 we generally did not see him stai-t, but were 



