1 88 THE BOOK OF MIGRATORY BIRDS 



similar tale, viz., of the wholesale destruction of broods of 

 this beautiful songster. 



The male, it is said, sings the loudest during tKe period 

 of incubation, perched on a small elevated clod, or rising 

 above the spot with a rapid motion of the wings, and 

 during ascent pouring forth that melody which has been 

 so often the theme of our more homely poets, and is a 

 marked illustration with all who 'describe the accessories 

 to rural scenery. 



The song is sustained for a considerable time without 

 break or interruption, both during the ascent and after 

 having attained its wished-for elevation, and also while 

 remaining poised in the air, so high as frequently to be 

 known only by its song faintly heard. 



Some of the old naturalists speak of its total disap- 

 pearance, the height being so great. I have never met 

 with such an experience, for I have been able to descry 

 the small speck at all times in the azure sky. It is quite 

 true the speck has been at times almost infinitesimal. 



There is a legend very pretty truly to the child mind 

 and imagination that the bird soars so high and so near 

 Paradise that it borrows its song, in its richness, from the 

 angelic choirs. 



It never perches on trees, but is entirely terrestrial, 

 walking and running with facility and swiftness, and 

 never has it recourse to hopping. 



In its geographical range the skylark seems pretty 

 generally and commonly distributed over Europe, de- 

 creasing to the northward, and there becoming migratory 

 in winter. 



I have noticed it as early as March the first, both on 

 this island and the adjacent mainland, and it remains in 

 full evidence till September, if fine. 



Not only those in possession of souls poetic have been 

 enraptured with the charming cadence of this prince of 

 songsters, but the rough gold-diggers, the early pioneers 

 of emigration to the Southern Cross, we are told, walked 



