THE BIRD-LIFE OF LONDON 



The " Sky " Lark, notwithstanding its trivial name, 

 spends most of its time upon the ground, where it is very 

 active, both running and walking, although it never seems 

 to hop. It loves to frequent the bare, open fields, hay- 

 meadows, growing grain until the ears have burst, stubbles, 

 and weedy pastures. During the autumn and winter it 

 chiefly lives in flocks, and at these seasons it is exceptional 

 for the males to indulge in soaring flights or in song. 

 The Skylark resumes his song with the very first days of 

 spring, and continues in voice from then onwards to the 

 moulting season. The loud, glad carol of this bird needs 

 no description here. It is one of the most familiar 

 sounds of the countryside, filling the sky often when the 

 tiny brown singer is almost lost in the spacious heights 

 above. During the mating season the male often soars 

 for a little way above the female, singing loudly ; and 

 sometimes he may be observed to warble whilst standing 

 on some clod of earth, or even running along the ground. 

 The food of this Lark consists of worms, grubs, small seeds, 

 and grain, with an occasional insect. The Skylark is an 

 early breeder, eggs for the first brood being laid in April, 

 for the second as late even as July. The nest is always 

 made upon the ground, and the favourite situation in the 

 London area is amongst the meadow-grass or growing 

 crops, but occasionally in the coarser vegetation and 

 heather of the commons. It is placed in a shallow 

 depression, and made outwardly of dry grass, twitch, and 

 bits of moss, and lined with finer grass, roots, and horse- 

 hair. The four or five eggs are greyish white, or olive- 

 white mottled and freckled with olive-brown and grey. 

 Like all ground-building birds, the hen is a close sitter, 

 and usually remains brooding on the nest until almost 

 under the feet of the passer-by. In autumn the various 

 broods unite into flocks for the winter. 



The adult Skylark is brown above, the feathers^having 

 darker centres ; the under parts are buffish white, most 



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