rapidity, every now and then bursting into song. At this season the song 

 of the Skylark is especially clear and charming. Up he rises from the 

 meadow, soaring upward and upward until he appears but a tiny speck, or 

 is entirely lost in the sky. As the bird rises, the wings are beaten very 

 rapidly with a fluttering motion, but once fairly started the Skylark's flight 

 is more regular. When it reaches the zenith of its flight it will sometimes 

 fly about for a short time, singing; but as a rule it comes down again 

 directly. The song is continued until the bird is quite near the ground, 

 when it suddenly ceases, and the little songster drops like a stone to the 

 ground and flutters off over the grass. The Skylark does not always sing 

 on the wing ; it will pour forth its notes while perched on some clod of earth 

 or on the ground, and will occasionally sit and sing on some wall or low 

 bush. The Skylark sings so continuously, and arranges its notes so 

 harmoniously, that although its compass is small and its notes are not very 

 varied, it at once arrests the attention of the passer-by. It is a very 

 cheerful song, and heralds the approach of spring, gladdening our hearts after 

 the long cold winter. 



The call-notes of the Skylark cannot be described on paper ; they 

 somewhat resemble the sound made by a whistle half-full of water a liquid 

 double note. 



The Skylark pairs early in March, but nesting operations do not 

 commence until the first week in April, eggs being rarely found before the 

 middle of the month. The nest is always built on the ground, and is 

 generally artfully concealed amongst the herbage. It is most frequently 

 found among the rich meadow hay or growing corn, though it is not 

 unfrequently built among the weeds and coarse herbage on some piece of 

 waste land, or among the heath on the edge of the moorlands. A slight 

 depression is scraped in the ground under the shelter of some tuft of 

 herbage, and in this little hollow the nest is built. It is a very simple 

 structure of coarse dry grass and moss, lined with fine dry grass, rootlets, 

 and a little horse-hair. The female undertakes most of the duties of 

 incubation, and is a very close sitter, often allowing herself to be almost 

 trodden on ere she quits the nest and flutters along the ground with 

 outstretched wings and tail, using all her arts to lure the intruder from her 

 treasure. When returning to the nest she will drop down some distance 

 from it, and run cautiously through grass to it. All the time that the 

 female is sitting on the nest the male bird is unceasingly soaring upwards 

 to pour forth his song, from early morning till sunset. 



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