502 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Delightful notes Nests Eggs. 



two corner feathers touched with white ; long in 

 body, and carries himself upright; some of the 

 feathers under the throat have small stripes; 

 he has three small white feathers on the top 

 of the shoulder, and a long heel. The hen is 

 narrow-headed, and brown over the eyes, flattish 

 from the breast to the belly, and round at the 

 rump, short-heeled, and only two whitish, dull, 

 or cream-coloured feathers on the shoulder, and 

 the curve line of the head reaches but a little be* 

 yond the eye. The weight of this bird is little 

 more than an ounce ; its length six inches, of 

 which the bill is something above half an inch, 

 and the tail two inches. 



The woodlark, which is universally admired 

 for its soft and delightful notes, is a very tender 

 bird, and yet breeds early in the spring, as soon 

 as the blackbird, or any other; the young birds 

 being ready to fly by the middle of March. 

 They build at the foot of a bush or a hedge, or 

 in lays where the grass is wet or dry, under some 

 turf to shelter them from the weather. Their 

 nest is made of withered grass, fibrous roots, and 

 other such like matter, with a few horse-hairs 

 within side at the bottom, being a small, and 

 very indifferent fabric, and hardly any hollow or 

 sides. She lays four eggs, of a pale bloom co- 

 lour, beautifully mottled, and clouded with red, 

 yellow, &c. 



The young ones are so tender, that they are 

 exceedingly difficult to bring up from the nest ; 



