IN GARDEN, PARK, AND SHRUBBERY, 47 



Another of our most local birds, the WOOD 

 LARK (Alauda arborea], may be met with in 

 those parks suited to its requirements. These 

 must be well wooded, and if the ground in places 

 is broken and heathy, studded with low bushes 

 and clothed with fern and brambles, so much 

 the better for the bird. Even in the air it may 

 readily be distinguished from the Skylark by 

 its short tail and more rounded wing. Many of 

 its habits recall the Tree Pipit. It has the same 

 persistent custom of remaining in one particular 

 haunt all the summer through ; and it also has 

 some favourite perch, usually a dead limb at 

 the top of one of the trees, where it sits, and 

 from which it starts on those flights which 

 accompany its charming song. He may often 

 be heard singing as he sits, so that motion 

 of the wings is not absolutely essential to 

 music. The song flights are not so high as 

 the Skylark's, and taken in wider circles, but 

 the song itself is sweeter, more continuous, 

 more Warbler-like. Except in the very depths 

 of winter, and during the moulting season, 

 the Wood Lark may be said to be in voice. 

 Early and late it warbles, rising as it were to 

 meet the dawn, and lingering in the air to enjoy 

 the very latest rays of the expiring day. In 

 many of its habits the Wood Lark resembles 

 the Skylark. It is a thorough ground bird, 

 seeking its food among the herbage, sleeping 

 on the ground, and in autumn becoming gre- 

 garious. Its food is composed of insects and 

 their larvae, and small seeds. The Wood Lark 

 pairs early, and its nest, built upon the ground 

 under the shelter of a bush, or amongst long 



