76 THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES. 



begins his song ; even a mild day in midwinter 

 will oft woo him into voice, and as the year draws 

 on apace his music becomes more frequent, until, 

 in April and May, he is the most persistent singer 

 of the fields. These song-flights, although com- 

 mon to many other birds, are equalled by no other 

 species, both for altitude and persistency of music. 

 No other known bird warbles so high in the 

 atmosphere, or flies to such an elevation for the 

 purpose of song. These flights are by no means 

 perpendicular, and the ascent is usually more 

 devious than the descent ; and when the zenith of 

 the journey is reached the bird often flies hither 

 and thither before coming down. Then, again, 

 the descent is much more rapid than the ascent, 

 the bird usually ceasing to warble when a few 

 yards from the ground, and then dropping like a 

 stone, either into the herbage at once, or to fly a 

 little way above it before finally alighting. But 

 these aerial flights are not by any means imperative 

 to the Skylark's song, for in the vernal year he 

 may be repeatedly heard to warble on the ground, 

 either as he sits on some clod or turf, or as he 

 runs to and fro about the fields. All through the 

 autumn and winter the Skylark is more or less 

 gregarious, frequenting the clover fields and weedy 

 stubbles by preference ; but in spring these com- 

 panies disband, and separate into pairs for the 

 purpose of breeding. The great nesting-grounds 

 of the Skylark are the hay meadows and the 

 corn lands. The nest is placed amongst the 

 herbage on the open fields and downs, and like 

 most of these nests upon the ground in the 

 pastures, is made of dry grass and moss, and 

 lined with finer grass and hair. The four or five 



