THE SKY-LARK. 233 



vertically over it. Besides this, the lark, in com- 

 mon with all birds save the owls, can see a single 

 object with one eye, while the situation of the eyes 

 at the side of the head gives them the view of a 

 much wider space than is enjoyed by those animals 

 whose eyes are situated in front of the head. 



The nest of the sky-lark is placed on the ground, 

 and shielded by some clod of earth or clump of 

 folia o-e. It is made of dried grasses, and the eggs, 

 which are four or five in number, are of a greyish 

 white, tinged w4th green. The nestlings when 

 fledged, do not, like most young birds, keep 

 together in a little party, but roam singly over the 

 field ; and one would wonder how the parent birds 

 contrive to help them to their food, till they can 

 fully provide for their own needs. Larks, though 

 not pugnacious birds, are not social in their habits, 

 and it is not often that several nests are placed in 

 the same field, or that the birds associate at this 

 season in companies, for they mostly run about in 

 pairs. Later in the year, however, when winter 

 is approaching, these birds collect in large parties, 

 and being joined by arrivals from the northern 

 regions, they leave the open grounds, and find 

 more sheltered spots, going in incredible numbers 



