234 THE OPEN COUNTRY 



In Thuringia it is believed to have made its first appearance in 1813 with the 



Russians, to whom also the introduction of cockroaches is ascribed. Southwards 



of the line, from Metz to Leipzig, the crested lark does not appear in Germany as 



a breeding-bird, but it has on a few occasions been found nesting near Darmstadt, 



Ulm, and a few other places. 



The familiar skylark (Alauda arvensis) is to be found almost 

 Skylark. • . 



everywhere, on arable plains, barren heaths, sandy stretches, rocks, 



pastures, the highest mountain meadows, and the seashore ; and it is always recog- 

 nisable by the flight and song. When rising, and singing as it rises, the lark first 

 flies at an angle, and then mounts almost vertically until it suddenly starts on a 

 wide spiral curve, in which it soars higher and higher. At last it ceases to 

 rise, and, supported by the expanded tail, hovers in the air, trilling forth its 

 melody for sometimes a quarter of an hour at a stretch. Towards the end of 

 its song it falls gradually for a time, and then suddenly drops, singing all 

 the while until close to the ground. It begins to sing from the time of its arrival 

 and continues till the end of July, the song being at first tender and low, as 

 if proceeding from afar or from beneath a rock. The skylark makes its nest 

 on the ground, in a slight depression scratched out for the purpose, the nest being 

 difficult to find, owing- to its colour being- the same as that of the surroundings ; 

 it is made of grass or herbaceous plants with a little moss and rootlets. The eggs 

 are sometimes laid in March, although oftener in April, and are of a whitish 

 earthy brown, blotched with brown and grey. The male is 7 inches long, the 

 female being similar in plumage to the male but of smaller size. The species may 

 be distinguished from the other larks by the faint yellowish eye-stripe, by the throat 

 and head being more spotted than streaked, and the outer tail-feathers mostly 

 white. It ranges over Europe up to the Arctic Circle, but is rare in the south 

 except as a winter-visitor, its place being taken in the Mediterranean countries by 

 A. cantarella. 



Of the central European reptiles none are properly inhabitants 

 of the fields, but among the amphibians the toads and a few of the 

 frogs may be so regarded. The most familiar of these is the toad (Bufo 

 vulgaris), which is more widely distributed than any of the others. With the 

 exception of the extreme north of Ireland, and some of the Mediterranean islands, 

 it is found all through Europe, western and central Asia, Japan, Morocco, and 

 Algeria, and dwells in the mountains as well as in the plains and uplands. During 

 spawning-time the toad keeps close to water, but after that season lives almost 

 exclusively on land, although always in shady and moist places. Nocturnal 

 in its habits, it liides by day in crevices and beneath roots, bushes, tree-stumps, and 

 stones, in old walls or in grottoes, or even in cellars and stables. For its hiberna- 

 tion it seeks shelter in mud, holes in the earth, rock-clefts, etc., retiring towards the 

 end of September or the beginning of October, and not reappearing till March, when 

 pairing begins. Toads remain in the water until they have spawned, after which 

 they emerge in search of food on land. They live on worms, spiders, slugs, cater- 

 pillars, and insects. From its behaviour in securing its prey, its power of finding 

 its old holes after nocturnal wanderings, and its endeavours to drive away rivals 



