182 



THE TITLARK. 



Aiitnus arbortus, Becks ilin; L'Alouette Pipi, Buffon ; Die Waldpieper, 



BbCHSIEIN. 



This is the smallest of our larks ; its length is but five inches 

 and a half, two and a half of which belong to the tail, which it 

 carries and moves like a wagtail, and by this characteristic it 

 seems to stand intermediate between the larks and the wagtails. 

 The sharp beak is dark brown above and whitish below ; the 

 iris is b^o^\Tl. The shanks are three quarters of an inch high, 

 and light flesh-coloured ; the angle of the hind toe is short and 

 crooked. The head, rather oval than round, is, with the neck, 

 back, rump, and sid^s, of an olive brown with black wavy 

 spots. 



The female differs from the male only in the paler yellow of 

 the throat, neck, and breast ; the white spot in the second tail- 

 feather is also smaller, and the two transverse bands on the 

 wings are whiter. The young males of the first year have the 

 under part of the body of a lighter yellow than those which are 

 older. 



Habitation. — When wild, with the exception of the most northern parts, 

 this species is found all over Europe. They build in great numbers in 

 Germany and England, in mountainous and Avoody places, and establish 

 themselves by preference on the skirts of forests, in fields, and orchards, in 

 their neighbourhood, or in the cleared parts of woods. In the month of 

 August they arrive in small flights in fields and enclosures planted with 

 cabbages, where caterpillars abound. In September they pass into the oat 

 fields, and in October thej- are caught in the nets with the common larks. 

 The time of their return is about the end of March ; and if the cold is severe 

 they collect by thousands in damp fields and near warm springs. One 

 peculiarity of this species is the having during the rest of the year a call 

 different from that of the breeding season. It no longer perches on trees 

 and bushes, but remains on the ground, crying " joi//, pi//," (or rather, I 

 think, "^m/A:, gulk,'^) while in the sitting time the cry is more tender, 

 expresses more solicitude, " t^ip, tzip^^'' and is heard only in the immediate 

 neighbourhood of the nest. As soon, therefore, as this cry strikes the ear, 

 we may be sure the nest is not far off; and if the young arc hatched we 

 shall soon see the father or mother with a beakful of insects, redoubling and 

 increasing the cry as they approach their precious charge. The other cry of 

 '■'' piti " or '■'■ ffuik " is never heard at this season ; whence it happens that 

 sportsmen and bird-catchers make two species of this same lark ; one they 

 name the heath lark, whose call in the woods is " tzip,"' and the other tho 

 cabbage lark, which in the fields calls '"'• guik." I have never been able to 



