616 ALAUDIDvE. 



remarkable for variety and power than for quality of tone ; 

 what is wanted in quality is, however, made up by quantity ; 

 the strains are heard during at least eight months of the 

 year, while in summer the cock begins to sing about 

 two hours before sunrise, and continues at intervals till 

 after sunset*. The actual duration of each song is, however, 

 much shorter, even in calm weather which is most favourable 

 to it, than most people think. The careful observations of 

 Hepburn and Weir given by Macgillivray (Brit. Birds, ii. 

 pp. 472, 480) shew tjiat at the beginning of the season it 

 seldom exceeds two minutes, while in the full flush of spring 

 a quarter of an hour is its utmost limit facts of which any 

 one taking the trouble to time the bird may assure himself. 



The food of the Skylark is various seeds, including corn, 

 sometimes a few berries, with many insects and worms. It 

 pairs early in the year, the exact time being much influenced 

 by the s^tate of the weather, and generally, at least in our 

 southern counties, produces several broods in the course of 

 the season. The nest is placed on the ground, usually in a 

 hollow formed by the bird itself, and often two or more such 

 hollows are made before one is found to its liking : the shelter 

 of a tuft of grass or a clod of earth is also frequently sought. 

 Grahame, in his 'Birds of Scotland,' has well contrasted 

 the lowly situation of the nest with the lofty flight of the 

 builder : 



" Thou, simple bird, 

 Of all the vocal quire, dwellest in a home 

 The humblest; yet thy morning song ascends 

 Nearest to heaven." 



The nest is, in the same poem, thus truly described : 



they not keep one to cheer the long hours of toil or pain ! Few birds are so 

 readily domesticated. The store their owners set on such captives ensures their 

 good treatment, and it is notorious that a mutual affection nearly always exists 

 between the two. If it be a crime to deprive any animal of its liberty under 

 any circumstances, the position advanced by the writers referred to is of course 

 unimpeachable, but if otherwise there seems to be no valid reason for exempting 

 the Skylark from that taming process which even an Apostle does not blame. 



* In places near Thetford where the Ringed Plover is common Skylarks often 

 imitate the note of that bird, making it part of their own song. 



